The Emergence of Land Use as a Global Force in the Earth System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, E. C.

2015-12-01

Human societies have emerged as a global force capable of transforming the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and climate. As a result, the long-term dynamics of the Earth system can no longer be understood or predicted without understanding their coupling with human societal dynamics. Here, a general causal theory is presented to explain why behaviorally modern humans, unlike any prior multicellular species, gained this unprecedented capacity to reshape the Earth system and how this societal capacity has changed from the Pleistocene to the present and future. Sociocultural niche construction theory, building on existing theories of ecosystem engineering, niche construction, the extended evolutionary synthesis, cultural evolution, ultrasociality and social change, can explain both the long-term upscaling of human societies and their unprecedented capacity to transform the Earth system. Regime shifts in human sociocultural niche construction, from the clearing of land using fire, to shifting cultivation, to intensive agriculture, to global food systems dependent on fossil fuel combustion, have enabled human societies to scale up while gaining the capacity to reshape the global patterns and processes of biogeography, ecosystems, landscapes, biomes, the biosphere, and ultimately the functioning of the Earth system. Just as Earth's geophysical climate system shapes the long-term dynamics of energy and material flow across the "spheres" of the Earth system, human societies, interacting at global scale to form "human systems", are increasingly shaping the global dynamics of energy, material, biotic and information flow across the spheres of the Earth system, including a newly emerged anthroposphere comprised of human societies and their material cultures. Human systems and the anthroposphere are strongly coupled with climate and other Earth systems and are dynamic in response to evolutionary changes in human social organization, cooperative ecosystem engineering, non-kin exchange relationships, and energy systems. It is hoped that intentional societal efforts to alter the dynamics of human systems can ultimately move Earth systems towards more beneficial and less detrimental outcomes for both human societies and nonhuman species.

Spaceborne observations of a changing Earth - Contribution from ESÁ s operating and approved satellite missions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johannessen, J. A.

2009-04-01

The overall vision for ESÁs Earth Observation activities is to play a central role in developing the global capability to understand planet Earth, predict changes, and mitigate negative effects of global change on its populations. Since Earth observation from space first became possible more than forty years ago, it has become central to monitoring and understanding how the dynamics of the Earth System work. The greatest progress has been in meteorology, where space-based observations have become indispensable, but it is now also progressively penetrating many of the fields making up Earth sciences. Exploiting Earth observation from space presents major multidisciplinary challenges to the researches working in the Earth sciences, to the technologists who build the state-of-the-art sensors, and to the scientists interpreting measurements made of processes occurring on or within the Earth's surface and in its atmosphere. The scientific community has shown considerable imagination in rising to these challenges, and in exploiting the latest technological developments to measure from space the complex processes and interactions that occur in the Earth System. In parallel, there has been significant progress in developing computer models that represent the many processes that make up the Earth System, and the interactions and feedback between them. Success in developing this holistic view is inextricably linked to the data provided by Earth Observation systems. Satellites provide the fundamental, consistent, regular and global measurements needed to drive, parameterise, test and improve those Earth System models. These developments, together with changes in society's awareness of the need for information on a changing world, have repetitively supported the decisions on how ESA can best focus its resources, and those of the European community that it serves, in order to address critical issues in Earth System science. Moreover, it is a fact that many operational, managerial and regulatory activities (i.e. weather forecasting, deforestation, flooding, etc.) essential to the safe exploitation of global resources, conservation of sustainable ecosystems, and the compliance with numerous international treaties and conventions, depend absolutely on continuity of satellite missions to maximise socio-economic and environmental benefits. This presentation will highlight some of the multidisciplinary Earth science achievements and operational applications using ESA satellite missions. It will also address some of the key scientific challenges and need for operational monitoring services in the years to come. It capitalizes on the knowledge and awareness outlined in "The Changing Earth - New scientific challenges for ESÁs Living Planet Programme" issued in 2006 together with updated views and approved plans expressed during ESÁs Earth Sciences Advisory Committee (ESAC) meetings and agreed at the recent User Consultation meeting in January 2009.

The role of the oceans in changes of the Earth's climate system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Schuckmann, K.

2016-12-01

Any changes to the Earth's climate system affect an imbalance of the Earth's energy budget due to natural or human made climate forcing. The current positive Earth's energy imbalance is mostly caused by human activity, and is driving global warming. Variations in the world's ocean heat storage and its associated volume changes are a key factor to gauge global warming, to assess changes in the Earth's energy budget and to estimate contributions to the global sea level budget. Present-day sea-level rise is one of the major symptoms of the current positive Earth Energy Imbalance. Sea level also responds to natural climate variability that is superimposing and altering the global warming signal. The most prominent signature in the global mean sea level interannual variability is caused by El Niño-Southern Oscillation. It has been also shown that sea level variability in other regions of the Indo-Pacific area significantly alters estimates of the rate of sea level rise, i.e. in the Indonesian archipelago. In summary, improving the accuracy of our estimates of global Earth's climate state and variability is critical for advancing the understanding and prediction of the evolution of our climate, and an overview on recent findings on the role of the global ocean in changes of the Earth's climate system with particular focus on sea level variability in the Indo-Pacific region will be given in this contribution.

Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. Version 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

There are strong scientific indications that natural change in the Earth system is being accelerated by human intervention. As a result, planet Earth faces the possibility of rapid environmental changes that would have a profound impact on all nations. However, we do not fully understand either the short-term effects of our activities, or their long-term implications - many important scientific questions remain unanswered. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working with the national and international scientific communities to establish a sound scientific basis for addressing these critical issues through research efforts coordinated under the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, and the World Climate Research Program. The Earth Science Enterprise is NASA's contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. NASA's Earth Science Enterprise will use space- and surface-based measurement systems to provide the scientific basis for understanding global change. The space-based components will provide a constellation of satellites to monitor the Earth from space. A major component of the Earth Science Enterprise is the Earth Observing System (EOS). The overall objective of the EOS Program is to determine the extent, causes, and regional consequences of global climate change. EOS will provide sustained space-based observations that will allow researchers to monitor climate variables over time to determine trends. A constellation of EOS satellites will acquire global data, beginning in 1998 and extending well into the 21st century.

College and University Earth System Science Education for the 21st Century (ESSE 21)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, D. R.; Ruzek, M.; Schweizer, D.

2002-12-01

The NASA/USRA Cooperative University-based Program in Earth System Science Education (ESSE), initiated over a decade ago through NASA support, has led in the creation of a nationwide collaborative effort to bring Earth system science into the undergraduate classroom. Forty-five ESSE institutions now offer over 120 Earth system courses each year, reaching thousands of students annually with interdisciplinary content. Through the course offerings by faculty from different disciplines and the organizational infrastructure of colleges and universities emphasizing cross disciplinary curricula, programs, degrees and departments, the ESSE Program has led in systemic change in the offering of a holistic view of Earth system science in the classroom. Building on this successful experience and collaborative infrastructure within and among colleges, universities and NASA partners, an expanded program called ESSE 21 is being supported by NASA to extend the legacy established during the last decade. Through its expanded focus including partnerships with under represented colleges and universities, the Program seeks to further develop broadly based educational resources, including shared courses, electronic learning materials and degree programs that will extend Earth system science concepts in both undergraduate and graduate classrooms and laboratories. These resources emphasizing fundamentals of Earth system science advance the nation's broader agenda for improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics competency. Overall the thrust within the classrooms of colleges and universities is critical to extending and solidifying courses of study in Earth system and global change science. ESSE 21 solicits proposals from undergraduate institutions to create or adopt undergraduate and graduate level Earth system science content in courses, curricula and degree programs. The goal for all is to effect systemic change through developing Earth system science learning materials, courses, curricula, minors or degree tracks, and programs or departments that are self-sustaining in the coming decades. Interdisciplinary college and university teams are competitively selected through a peer-reviewed Call for Participation. ESSE 21 offers an infrastructure for an interactive community of educators and researchers including under represented participants that develops interdisciplinary Earth system science content utilizing NASA resources involving global change data, models, visualizations and electronic media and networks. The Program provides for evaluation and assessment guides to help assure the pedagogical effectiveness of materials developed. The ultimate aim of ESSE 21 is to expand and accelerate the nation's realization of sound, scientific interdisciplinary educational resources for informed learning and decision-making by all from the perspective of sustainability of the Earth as a system.

A New Model of the Earth System Nitrogen Cycle: How Plates and Life Affect the Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, B. W.; Goldblatt, C.

2017-11-01

We have developed an Earth system N cycle model, including biologic and geologic fluxes and key nutrients such as phosphorus. The atmosphere can change mass significantly over Earth history, and the solid Earth contains most of the planet's N.

Modeling Earth system changes of the past

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kutzbach, John E.

1992-01-01

This review outlines some of the challenging problems to be faced in understanding the causes and mechanisms of large climatic changes and gives examples of initial studies of these problems with climate models. The review covers climatic changes in three main periods of earth history: (1) the past several centuries; (2) the past several glacial-interglacial cycles; and (3) the past several million years. The review will concentrate on studies of climate but, where possible, will mention broader aspects of the earth system.

How NASA Sees the Earth and Its Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

BrowndeColstoun, Eric

2012-01-01

NASA Research Addresses Broad Questions: (1) How are global ecosystems changing? (2) What changes are occurring in global land cover and land use and what are their causes? (3) How is the Earth s surface being transformed and how can such information be used to predict future changes? (4) What are the consequences of land cover and land use change for the sustainability of ecosystems and economic productivity? NASA uses the view from above to monitor our changing home. Different satellites help us study the various systems of the Earth. No one system can do it all. NASA tools and science helps us to understand how the planet is changing and what the changes mean for us.

integrated Earth System Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, Andew; Di Vittorio, Alan; Collins, William

The integrated Earth system model (iESM) has been developed as a new tool for projecting the joint human/climate system. The iESM is based upon coupling an integrated assessment model (IAM) and an Earth system model (ESM) into a common modeling infrastructure. IAMs are the primary tool for describing the human-Earth system, including the sources of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) and short-lived species (SLS), land use and land cover change (LULCC), and other resource-related drivers of anthropogenic climate change. ESMs are the primary scientific tools for examining the physical, chemical, and biogeochemical impacts of human-induced changes to the climate system. Themore » iESM project integrates the economic and human-dimension modeling of an IAM and a fully coupled ESM within a single simulation system while maintaining the separability of each model if needed. Both IAM and ESM codes are developed and used by large communities and have been extensively applied in recent national and international climate assessments. By introducing heretofore-omitted feedbacks between natural and societal drivers, we can improve scientific understanding of the human-Earth system dynamics. Potential applications include studies of the interactions and feedbacks leading to the timing, scale, and geographic distribution of emissions trajectories and other human influences, corresponding climate effects, and the subsequent impacts of a changing climate on human and natural systems.« less

GRACE, time-varying gravity, Earth system dynamics and climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wouters, B.; Bonin, J. A.; Chambers, D. P.; Riva, R. E. M.; Sasgen, I.; Wahr, J.

2014-11-01

Continuous observations of temporal variations in the Earth's gravity field have recently become available at an unprecedented resolution of a few hundreds of kilometers. The gravity field is a product of the Earth's mass distribution, and these data—provided by the satellites of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE)—can be used to study the exchange of mass both within the Earth and at its surface. Since the launch of the mission in 2002, GRACE data has evolved from being an experimental measurement needing validation from ground truth, to a respected tool for Earth scientists representing a fixed bound on the total change and is now an important tool to help unravel the complex dynamics of the Earth system and climate change. In this review, we present the mission concept and its theoretical background, discuss the data and give an overview of the major advances GRACE has provided in Earth science, with a focus on hydrology, solid Earth sciences, glaciology and oceanography.

GRACE, time-varying gravity, Earth system dynamics and climate change.

PubMed

Wouters, B; Bonin, J A; Chambers, D P; Riva, R E M; Sasgen, I; Wahr, J

2014-11-01

Continuous observations of temporal variations in the Earth's gravity field have recently become available at an unprecedented resolution of a few hundreds of kilometers. The gravity field is a product of the Earth's mass distribution, and these data-provided by the satellites of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE)-can be used to study the exchange of mass both within the Earth and at its surface. Since the launch of the mission in 2002, GRACE data has evolved from being an experimental measurement needing validation from ground truth, to a respected tool for Earth scientists representing a fixed bound on the total change and is now an important tool to help unravel the complex dynamics of the Earth system and climate change. In this review, we present the mission concept and its theoretical background, discuss the data and give an overview of the major advances GRACE has provided in Earth science, with a focus on hydrology, solid Earth sciences, glaciology and oceanography.

Understanding the Role of Biology in the Global Environment: NASA'S Mission to Planet Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, William F.

1996-01-01

NASA has long used the unique perspective of space as a means of expanding our understanding of how the Earth's environment functions. In particular, the linkages between land, air, water, and life-the elements of the Earth system-are a focus for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. This approach, called Earth system science, blends together fields like meteorology, biology, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Mission to Planet Earth uses observations from satellites, aircraft, balloons, and ground researchers as the basis for analysis of the elements of the Earth system, the interactions between those elements, and possible changes over the coming years and decades. This information is helping scientists improve our understanding of how natural processes affect us and how we might be affecting them. Such studies will yield improved weather forecasts, tools for managing agriculture and forests, information for fishermen and local planners, and, eventually, an enhanced ability to predict how the climate will change in the future. NASA has designed Mission to Planet Earth to focus on five primary themes: Land Cover and Land Use Change; Seasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction; Natural Hazards; Long-Term Climate Variability; and Atmosphere Ozone.

EARTH SYSTEM ATLAS: A Platform for Access to Peer-Reviewed Information about process and change in the Earth System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahagian, D.; Prentice, C.

2004-12-01

A great deal of time, effort and resources have been expended on global change research to date, but dissemination and visualization of the key pertinent data sets has been problematical. Toward that end, we are constructing an Earth System Atlas which will serve as a single compendium describing the state of the art in our understanding of the Earth system and how it has responded to and is likely to respond to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. The Atlas is an interactive web-based system of data bases and data manipulation tools and so is much more than a collection of pre-made maps posted on the web. It represents a tool for assembling, manipulating, and displaying specific data as selected and customized by the user. Maps are created "on the fly" according to user-specified instructions. The information contained in the Atlas represents the growing body of data assembled by the broader Earth system research community, and can be displayed in the form of maps and time series of the various relevant parameters that drive and are driven by changes in the Earth system at various time scales. The Atlas is designed to display the information assembled by the global change research community in the form of maps and time series of all the relevant parameters that drive or are driven by changes in the Earth System at various time scales. This will serve to provide existing data to the community, but also will help to highlight data gaps that may hinder our understanding of critical components of the Earth system. This new approach to handling Earth system data is unique in several ways. First and foremost, data must be peer-reviewed. Further, it is designed to draw on the expertise and products of extensive international research networks rather than on a limited number of projects or institutions. It provides explanatory explanations targeted to the user's needs, and the display of maps and time series can be customize by the user. In general, the Atlas is designed provide the research community with a new opportunity for data observation and manipulation, enabling new scientific discoveries in the coming years. An initial prototype of the Atlas has been developed and can be manipulated in real time.

Native America: American Indian Geoscientists & Earth System Science Leaders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolman, J. R.

2011-12-01

We are living in a definite time of change. Distinct changes are being experienced in our most sacred and natural environments. This is especially true on Native lands across the Americas. Native people have lived for millennia in distinct and unique ways. The knowledge of balancing the needs of people with the needs of our natural environments is paramount in all Tribal societies. These changes have accelerated the momentum to ensure the future of American Indian Geoscientists and Earth Systems Science Leaders. The presentation will bring to prominence the unique recruitment and mentoring necessary to achieve success that emerged through working with Tribal people. The presentation will highlight: 1) past and present philosophies on recruitment and mentoring of Native/Tribal students in geoscience and earth systems science; 2) current Native leadership and research development; 3) unique collaborations "bridging" Native people across geographic areas (International) in developing educational/research experiences which integrate the distinctive geoscience and earth systems science knowledge of Tribal peoples throughout the Americas. The presentation will highlight currently funded projects and initiatives as well as success stories of emerging Native geoscientists and earth systems science leaders.

Accessing Earth science data from the EOS data and information system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcdonald, Kenneth R.; Calvo, Sherri

1993-01-01

An overview of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is presented, concentrating on the users' interactions with the system and highlighting those features that are driven by the unique requirements of the Global Change Research Program and the supported science community. However, a basic premise of the EOSDIS is that the system must evolve to meet changes in user needs and to incorporate advances in data system technology. Therefore, the development process which is being used to accommodate these changes and some of the potential areas of change are also addressed.

Overview of past, ongoing and future efforts of the integrated modeling of global change for Northern Eurasia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monier, Erwan; Kicklighter, David; Sokolov, Andrei; Zhuang, Qianlai; Melillo, Jerry; Reilly, John

2016-04-01

Northern Eurasia is both a major player in the global carbon budget (it includes roughly 70% of the Earth's boreal forest and more than two-thirds of the Earth's permafrost) and a region that has experienced dramatic climate change (increase in temperature, growing season length, floods and droughts) over the past century. Northern Eurasia has also undergone significant land-use change, both driven by human activity (including deforestation, expansion of agricultural lands and urbanization) and natural disturbances (such as wildfires and insect outbreaks). These large environmental and socioeconomic impacts have major implications for the carbon cycle in the region. Northern Eurasia is made up of a diverse set of ecosystems that range from tundra to forests, with significant areas of croplands and pastures as well as deserts, with major urban areas. As such, it represents a complex system with substantial challenges for the modeling community. In this presentation, we provide an overview of past, ongoing and possible future efforts of the integrated modeling of global change for Northern Eurasia. We review the variety of existing modeling approaches to investigate specific components of Earth system dynamics in the region. While there are a limited number of studies that try to integrate various aspects of the Earth system (through scale, teleconnections or processes), we point out that there are few systematic analyses of the various feedbacks within the Earth system (between components, regions or scale). As a result, there is a lack of knowledge of the relative importance of such feedbacks, and it is unclear how policy relevant current studies are that fail to account for these feedbacks. We review the role of Earth system models, and their advantages/limitations compared to detailed single component models. We further introduce the human activity system (global trade, economic models, demographic model and so on), the need for coupled human/earth system models and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), a suite of models that couple human activity models to Earth System Models. Finally, we conclude the presentation with examples of emerging issues that require a representation of the coupled human/earth system models.

Preparing a New Generation of Citizens and Scientists to Face Earth's Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bralower, Timothy J.; Feiss, P. Geoffrey; Manduca, Cathryn A.

2008-01-01

As the research interests and the focus of traditional earth scientists are transformed, so too must education in earth system science at colleges and universities across the country change. The required change involves not only the methods used to teach this new science, but also the essential place of the earth sciences in the panoply of…

Carbon-climate-human interactions in an integrated human-Earth system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calvin, K. V.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Jones, A. D.; Shi, X.

2016-12-01

The C4MIP and CMIP5 results highlighted large uncertainties in climate projections, driven to a large extent by limited understanding of the interactions between terrestrial carbon-cycle and climate feedbacks, and their associated uncertainties. These feedbacks are dominated by uncertainties in soil processes, disturbance dynamics, ecosystem response to climate change, and agricultural productivity, and land-use change. This research addresses three questions: (1) how do terrestrial feedbacks vary across different levels of climate change, (2) what is the relative contribution of CO2 fertilization and climate change, and (3) how robust are the results across different models and methods? We used a coupled modeling framework that integrates an Integrated Assessment Model (modeling economic and energy activity) with an Earth System Model (modeling the natural earth system) to examine how business-as-usual (RCP 8.5) climate change will affect ecosystem productivity, cropland extent, and other aspects of the human-Earth system. We find that higher levels of radiative forcing result in higher productivity growth, that increases in CO2 concentrations are the dominant contributors to that growth, and that our productivity increases fall in the middle of the range when compared to other CMIP5 models and the AgMIP models. These results emphasize the importance of examining both the anthropogenic and natural components of the earth system, and their long-term interactive feedbacks.

Integrated modeling of land-use change: the role of coupling, interactions and feedbacks between the human and Earth systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monier, E.; Kicklighter, D. W.; Ejaz, Q.; Winchester, N.; Paltsev, S.; Reilly, J. M.

2016-12-01

Land-use change integrates a large number of components of the human and Earth systems, including climate, energy, water, and land. These complex coupling elements, interactions and feedbacks take place on a variety of space and time scales, thus increasing the complexity of land-use change modeling frameworks. In this study, we aim to identify which coupling elements, interactions and feedbacks are important for modeling land-use change, both at the global and regional level. First, we review the existing land-use change modeling framework used to develop land-use change projections for the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios. In such framework, land-use change is simulated by Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and mainly influenced by economic, energy, demographic and policy drivers. IAMs focus on representing the demand for agriculture and forestry goods (crops for food and bioenergy, forest products for construction and bioenergy), the interactions with other sectors of the economy and trade between various regions of the world. Then, we investigate how important various coupling elements and feedbacks with the Earth system are for projections of land-use change at the global and regional level. We focus on the following: i) the climate impacts on land productivity and greenhouse gas emissions, which requires climate change information and coupling to a terrestrial ecosystem model/crop model; ii) the climate and economic impacts on irrigation availability, which requires coupling the LUC modeling framework to a water resources management model and disaggregating rainfed and irrigated croplands; iii) the feedback of land-use change on the global and regional climate system through land-use change emissions and changes in the surface albedo and hydrology, which requires coupling to an Earth system model. Finally, we conclude our study by highlighting the current lack of clarity in how various components of the human and Earth systems are coupled in IAMs , and the need for a lexicon that is agreed upon by the IAM community.

The function of the earth observing system - Data information system Distributed Active Archive Centers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lapenta, C. C.

1992-01-01

The functionality of the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) which are significant elements of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is discussed. Each DAAC encompasses the information management system, the data archival and distribution system, and the product generation system. The EOSDIS DAACs are expected to improve the access to earth science data set needed for global change research.

Modeling global change impacts on Northern Eurasia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kicklighter, D. W.; Monier, E.; Sokolov, A. P.; Zhuang, Q.; Melillo, J. M.; Reilly, J. M.

2016-12-01

Northern Eurasia is a major player in the global carbon budget and includes roughly 70% of the Earth's boreal forest and more than two-thirds of the Earth's permafrost. The region has experienced dramatic climate change (increase in temperature, growing season length, floods and droughts), natural disturbances (wildfires and insect outbreaks), and land-use change (timber harvest, urbanization, expansion and abandonment of agricultural lands) over the past century. These large environmental and socioeconomic impacts have major implications for the carbon cycle in the region. Northern Eurasia is made up of a diverse set of ecosystems that range from deserts to forests, with significant areas of croplands, pastures, and urban areas. As such, it represents a complex system with substantial challenges for the modeling community. We provide an overview of past, ongoing and possible future efforts of the integrated modeling of global change for Northern Eurasia. First, we review the variety of existing modeling approaches to investigate specific components of Earth system dynamics in the region. While there are a limited number of studies that try to integrate various aspects of the Earth system through scale, teleconnections or processes, there are few systematic analyses of the various feedbacks among components within the Earth system. As a result, there is a lack of knowledge of the relative importance of such feedbacks, and it is unclear how relevant current studies, which do not account for these feedbacks, may be for policymaking. Next, we review the role of Earth system models, and their advantages/limitations compared to detailed single component models. We further introduce human activity models (e.g., global trade, economic models, demographic models), and the need for Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), a suite of models that couple human activity models to Earth System Models. Finally, we examine emerging issues that require a representation of the coupled human/earth system models to address.

Defining the Anthropocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Simon; Maslin, Mark

2016-04-01

Time is divided by geologists according to marked shifts in Earth's state. Recent global environmental changes suggest that Earth may have entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Should the Anthropocene - the idea that human activity is a force acting upon the Earth system in ways that mean that Earth will be altered for millions of years - be defined as a geological time-unit at the level of an Epoch? Here we appraise the data to assess such claims, first in terms of changes to the Earth system, with particular focus on very long-lived impacts, as Epochs typically last millions of years. Can Earth really be said to be in transition from one state to another? Secondly, we then consider the formal criteria used to define geological time-units and move forward through time examining whether currently available evidence passes typical geological time-unit evidence thresholds. We suggest two time periods likely fit the criteria (1) the aftermath of the interlinking of the Old and New Worlds, which moved species across continents and ocean basins worldwide, a geologically unprecedented and permanent change, which is also the globally synchronous coolest part of the Little Ice Age (in Earth system terms), and the beginning of global trade and a new socio-economic "world system" (in historical terms), marked as a golden spike by a temporary drop in atmospheric CO2, centred on 1610 CE; and (2) the aftermath of the Second World War, when many global environmental changes accelerated and novel long-lived materials were increasingly manufactured, known as the Great Acceleration (in Earth system terms) and the beginning of the Cold War (in historical terms), marked as a golden spike by the peak in radionuclide fallout in 1964. We finish by noting that the Anthropocene debate is politically loaded, thus transparency in the presentation of evidence is essential if a formal definition of the Anthropocene is to avoid becoming a debate about bias. The Anthropocene is essentially the time when human history meshes with near-permanent changes to the Earth system and some of those changes are preserved as geological deposits. A satisfying theory and definition of the Anthropocene will ideally rest on intertwined evidence from disparate human history and natural science disciplines. Such a definition may not be possible, and different disciplines many utilise different definitions. However, any scientific definition of the Anthropocene Epoch should be transparently evidence-based.

Prospects of the New Science and Outreach Network Baltic Earth with Results of the Second Climate Change Assessment for the Baltic Sea Region (BACC II)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reckermann, M.; Von Storch, H.; Omstedt, A. T.; Meier, M.; Rutgersson, A.

2014-12-01

The Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe spans different climate and population zones, from a temperate, highly populated, industrialized south with intensive agriculture to a boreal, rural north. It represents an old cultural landscape, and the Baltic Sea itself is among the most intensively studied sea areas of the world. Baltic Earth is the new Earth system research network for the Baltic Sea region. It is the successor to BALTEX, which was terminated in June 2013 after 20 years and two successful phases. Baltic Earth stands for the vision to achieve an improved Earth system understanding of the Baltic Sea region. This means that the research disciplines of BALTEX continue to be relevant, i.e. atmospheric and climate sciences, hydrology, oceanography and biogeochemistry, but a more holistic view of the Earth system encompassing processes in the atmosphere, on land and in the sea as well as in the anthroposphere shall gain in importance in Baltic Earth. Specific grand research challenges have been formulated, representing interdisciplinary research questions to be tackled in the coming years. A major means will be scientific assessments of particular research topics by expert groups, similar to the BACC approach, which shall help to identify knowledge gaps and develop research strategies. A major outcome of Baltic Earth will be the update of the BALTEX Assessment of Climate Change for the Baltic Sea Basin (BACC II). This new study after 5 years finds the results of BACC I still valid. Climate change can be detected at the regional scale but attribution is still weak. The effect of changing atmospheric aerosol loads and land use change is largely unknown so far and needs further attention in the coming years. For the observed changes in biogeochemical and ecological systems, multiple drivers are at work of which climate change is one. Their relative importance still needs to be evaluated. When addressing climate change impacts on e.g. forestry, agriculture, urban complexes and the marine and terrestrial environment in the Baltic Sea basin, a broad perspective is needed which considers not only climate change but also other significant factors such as emission changes, demographic, economic as well as land-use changes.

The Dynamic Earth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siever, Raymond

1983-01-01

Discusses how the earth is a dynamic system that maintains itself in a steady state. Areas considered include large/small-scale earth motions, geologic time, rock and hydrologic cycles, and other aspects dealing with the changing face of the earth. (JN)

Comprehensive data set of global land cover change for land surface model applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterling, Shannon; Ducharne, AgnèS.

2008-09-01

To increase our understanding of how humans have altered the Earth's surface and to facilitate land surface modeling experiments aimed to elucidate the direct impact of land cover change on the Earth system, we create and analyze a database of global land use/cover change (LUCC). From a combination of sources including satellite imagery and other remote sensing, ecological modeling, and country surveys, we adapt and synthesize existing maps of potential land cover and layers of the major anthropogenic land covers, including a layer of wetland loss, that are then tailored for land surface modeling studies. Our map database shows that anthropogenic land cover totals to approximately 40% of the Earth's surface, consistent with literature estimates. Almost all (92%) of the natural grassland on the Earth has been converted to human use, mostly grazing land, and the natural temperate savanna with mixed C3/C4 is almost completely lost (˜90%), due mostly to conversion to cropland. Yet the resultant change in functioning, in terms of plant functional types, of the Earth system from land cover change is dominated by a loss of tree cover. Finally, we identify need for standardization of percent bare soil for global land covers and for a global map of tree plantations. Estimates of land cover change are inherently uncertain, and these uncertainties propagate into modeling studies of the impact of land cover change on the Earth system; to begin to address this problem, modelers need to document fully areas of land cover change used in their studies.

USGS global change research

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1995-01-01

The Earth's global environment--its interrelated climate, land, oceans, fresh water, atmospheric and ecological systems-has changed continually throughout Earth history. Human activities are having ever-increasing effects on these systems. Sustaining our environment as population and demands for resources increase requires a sound understanding of the causes and cycles of natural change and the effects of human activities on the Earth's environmental systems. The U.S. Global Change Research Program was authorized by Congress in 1989 to provide the scientific understanding necessary to develop national and international policies concerning global environmental issues, particularly global climate change. The program addresses questions such as: what factors determine global climate; have humans already begun to change the global climate; will the climate of the future be very different; what will be the effects of climate change; and how much confidence do we have in our predictions? Through understanding, we can improve our capability to predict change, reduce the adverse effects of human activities, and plan strategies for adapting to natural and human-induced environmental change.

Global Change

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1993-01-01

Global change is a relatively new area of scientific study using research from many disciplines to determine how Earth systems change, and to assess the influence of human activity on these changes. This teaching packet consists of a poster and three activity sheets. In teaching these activities four themes are important: time, change, cycles, and Earth as home.

Tidal-friction theory of the earth-moon system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyttleton, R. A.

1980-01-01

Serious errors contained in Jeffreys' (1952, 1959, 1970, 1976) discussion of tidal friction in the earth-moon system are identified and their consequences are discussed. A direct solution of the dynamical tidal equations for the couple from the earth acting upon the moon and the couple from the earth acting upon the sun, which were left unsolved by Jeffreys, is found to be incompatible with observations and the predictions of linear or quadratic friction theory, due to his failure to take into account the possible change of the moment of inertia of the earth with time in the derivation of the dynamical equations. Consideration of this factor leads to the conclusion that the earth must be contracting at a rate of 14.7 x 10 to the -11th/year, which can be accounted for only by the Ramsey theory, in which the terrestrial core is considered as a phase change rather than a change in chemical composition. Implications of this value for the rates of changes in day length and lunar distance are also indicated.

Change in Water Cycle- Important Issue on Climate Earth System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Pratik

Change in Water Cycle- Important Issue on Climate Earth System PRATIK KUMAR SINGH1 1BALDEVRAM MIRDHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,JAIPUR (RAJASTHAN) ,INDIA Water is everywhere on Earth and is the only known substance that can naturally exist as a gas, liquid, and solid within the relatively small range of air temperatures and pressures found at the Earth's surface.Changes in the hydrological cycle as a consequence of climate and land use drivers are expected to play a central role in governing a vast range of environmental impacts.Earth's climate will undergo changes in response to natural variability, including solar variability, and to increasing concentrations of green house gases and aerosols.Further more, agreement is widespread that these changes may profoundly affect atmospheric water vapor concentrations, clouds and precipitation patterns.As we know that ,a warmer climate, directly leading to increased evaporation, may well accelerate the hydrological cycle, resulting in an increase in the amount of moisture circulating through the atmosphere.The Changing Water Cycle programmer will develop an integrated, quantitative understanding of the changes taking place in the global water cycle, involving all components of the earth system, improving predictions for the next few decades of regional precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, hydrological storage and fluxes.The hydrological cycle involves evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. NASA's Aqua satellite will monitor many aspects of the role of water in the Earth's systems, and will do so at spatial and temporal scales appropriate to foster a more detailed understanding of each of the processes that contribute to the hydrological cycle. These data and the analyses of them will nurture the development and refinement of hydrological process models and a corresponding improvement in regional and global climate models, with a direct anticipated benefit of more accurate weather and climate forecasts. Aqua is a major mission of the Earth Observing System (EOS), an international program centered in NASA's Earth Science Enterprise to study the Earth in detail from the unique vantage point of space. Focused on key measurements identified by a consensus of U.S. and international scientists, EOS is further enabling studies of the complex interactions amongst the Earth's land, ocean, air, ice and biological systems. Aqua's contributions to monitoring water in the Earth's environment will involve all six of Aqua's instruments: the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), the Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer- Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES). Frozen water in the oceans, in the form of sea ice, will be examined with both AMSR-E and MODIS data, the former allowing routine monitoring of sea ice at a coarse resolution and the latter providing greater spatial resolution but only under cloud-free conditions. Sea ice can insulate the underlying liquid water against heat loss to the often frigid overlying polar atmosphere and also reflects sunlight that would otherwise be available to warm the ocean. AMSR-E measurements will allow the routine derivation of sea ice concentrations in both polar regions, through taking advantage of the marked contrast in microwave emissions of sea ice and liquid water. This will continue, with improved resolution and accuracy, a 22-year satellite record of changes in the extent of polar ice. MODIS, with its finer resolution, will permit the identification of individual ice flows, when unobscured by clouds. AMSR-E and MODIS will also provide monitoring, the AIRS/AMSU/HSB combination will provide more-accurate space-based measurements of atmospheric temperature and water vapor than have ever been obtained before, with the highest vertical resolution to date as well. Since water vapor is the Earth's primary greenhouse gas and contributes significantly to uncertainties in projections of future global warming, it is critical to understand how it varies in the Earth system. We should concern for these drastic changes and should protect it. Keywords-Hydrological cycle,Climate models,Aqua’s instruments

Global Change Research Related to the Earth's Energy and Hydrologic Cycle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

The Institute for Global Change Research and Education (IGCRE) is a joint initiative of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) for coordinating and facilitating research and education relevant to global environmental change. Created in 1992 with primary support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), IGCRE fosters participation by university, private sector and government scientists who seek to develop long-term collaborative research in global change science, focusing on the role of water and energy in the Earth's atmosphere and physical climate system. IGCRE is also chartered to address educational needs of Earth system and global change science, including the preparation of future scientists and training of primary and secondary education teachers.

The integrated Earth system model version 1: formulation and functionality

DOE PAGES

Collins, W. D.; Craig, A. P.; Truesdale, J. E.; ...

2015-07-23

The integrated Earth system model (iESM) has been developed as a new tool for projecting the joint human/climate system. The iESM is based upon coupling an integrated assessment model (IAM) and an Earth system model (ESM) into a common modeling infrastructure. IAMs are the primary tool for describing the human–Earth system, including the sources of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) and short-lived species (SLS), land use and land cover change (LULCC), and other resource-related drivers of anthropogenic climate change. ESMs are the primary scientific tools for examining the physical, chemical, and biogeochemical impacts of human-induced changes to the climate system. Themore » iESM project integrates the economic and human-dimension modeling of an IAM and a fully coupled ESM within a single simulation system while maintaining the separability of each model if needed. Both IAM and ESM codes are developed and used by large communities and have been extensively applied in recent national and international climate assessments. By introducing heretofore-omitted feedbacks between natural and societal drivers, we can improve scientific understanding of the human–Earth system dynamics. Potential applications include studies of the interactions and feedbacks leading to the timing, scale, and geographic distribution of emissions trajectories and other human influences, corresponding climate effects, and the subsequent impacts of a changing climate on human and natural systems. This paper describes the formulation, requirements, implementation, testing, and resulting functionality of the first version of the iESM released to the global climate community.« less

JPL's Role in Advancing Earth System Science to Meet the Challenges of Climate and Environmental Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, Diane

2012-01-01

Objective 2.1.1: Improve understanding of and improve the predictive capability for changes in the ozone layer, climate forcing, and air quality associated with changes in atmospheric composition. Objective 2.1.2: Enable improved predictive capability for weather and extreme weather events. Objective 2.1.3: Quantify, understand, and predict changes in Earth s ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, including the global carbon cycle, land cover, and biodiversity. Objective 2.1.4: Quantify the key reservoirs and fluxes in the global water cycle and assess water cycle change and water quality. Objective 2.1.5: Improve understanding of the roles of the ocean, atmosphere, land and ice in the climate system and improve predictive capability for its future evolution. Objective 2.1.6: Characterize the dynamics of Earth s surface and interior and form the scientific basis for the assessment and mitigation of natural hazards and response to rare and extreme events. Objective 2.1.7: Enable the broad use of Earth system science observations and results in decision-making activities for societal benefits.

A global change data base using Thematic Mapper data - Earth Monitoring Educational System (EMES)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

D'Antoni, Hector L.; Peterson, David L.

1992-01-01

Some of the main directions in creating an education program in earth system science aimed at combining top science and technology with high academic performance are presented. The creation of an Earth Monitoring Educational System (EMES) integrated with the research interests of the NASA Ames Research Center and one or more universities is proposed. Based on the integration of a global network of cooperators to build a global data base for assessments of global change, EMES would promote degrees at all levels in global ecology at associated universities and colleges, and extracurricular courses for multilevel audiences. EMES objectives are to: train specialists; establish a tradition of solving regional problems concerning global change in a systemic manner, using remote sensing technology as the monitoring tool; and transfer knowledge on global change to the national and world communities. South America is proposed as the pilot continent for the project.

Earth System Monitoring, Introduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orcutt, John

This section provides sensing and data collection methodologies, as well as an understanding of Earth's climate parameters and natural and man-made phenomena, to support a scientific assessment of the Earth system as a whole, and its response to natural and human-induced changes. The coverage ranges from climate change factors and extreme weather and fires to oil spill tracking and volcanic eruptions. This serves as a basis to enable improved prediction and response to climate change, weather, and natural hazards as well as dissemination of the data and conclusions. The data collection systems include satellite remote sensing, aerial surveys, and land- and ocean-based monitoring stations. Our objective in this treatise is to provide a significant portion of the scientific and engineering basis of Earth system monitoring and to provide this in 17 detailed articles or chapters written at a level for use by university students through practicing professionals. The reader is also directed to the closely related sections on Ecological Systems, Introduction and also Climate Change Modeling Methodology, Introduction as well as Climate Change Remediation, Introduction to. For ease of use by students, each article begins with a glossary of terms, while at an average length of 25 print pages each, sufficient detail is presented for use by professionals in government, universities, and industries. The chapters are individually summarized below.

Nonlinear dynamics of global atmospheric and Earth system processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saltzman, Barry

1993-01-01

During the past eight years, we have been engaged in a NASA-supported program of research aimed at establishing the connection between satellite signatures of the earth's environmental state and the nonlinear dynamics of the global weather and climate system. Thirty-five publications and four theses have resulted from this work, which included contributions in five main areas of study: (1) cloud and latent heat processes in finite-amplitude baroclinic waves; (2) application of satellite radiation data in global weather analysis; (3) studies of planetary waves and low-frequency weather variability; (4) GCM studies of the atmospheric response to variable boundary conditions measurable from satellites; and (5) dynamics of long-term earth system changes. Significant accomplishments from the three main lines of investigation pursued during the past year are presented and include the following: (1) planetary atmospheric waves and low frequency variability; (2) GCM studies of the atmospheric response to changed boundary conditions; and (3) dynamics of long-term changes in the global earth system.

NASA's Earth Observing System: The Transition from Climate Monitoring to Climate Change Prediction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.; Herring, David D.

1998-01-01

Earth's 4.5 billion year history is a study in change. Natural geological forces have been rearranging the surface features and climatic conditions of our planet since its beginning. There is scientific evidence that some of these natural changes have not only led to mass extinctions of species (e.g., dinosaurs), but have also severely impacted human civilizations. For instance, there is evidence that a relatively sudden climate change caused a 300-year drought that contributed to the downfall of Akkadia, one of the most powerful empires in the Middle-East region around 2200 BC. More recently, the "little ice age" from 1200-1400 AD forced the Vikings to abandon Greenland when temperatures there dropped by about 1.5 C, rendering it too difficult to grow enough crops to sustain the population. Today, there is compelling scientific evidence that human activities have attained the magnitude of a geological force and are speeding up the rate of global change. For example, carbon dioxide levels have risen 30 percent since the industrial revolution and about 40 percent of the world's land surface has been transformed by humans. We don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's land, ocean, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. We need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable us to forecast climate change. In 1988, the Earth System Sciences Committee, sponsored by NASA, issued a report calling for an integrated, long-term strategy for measuring the vital signs of Earth's climate system. The report urged that the measurements must all be intimately coupled with focused process studies, they must facilitate development of Earth system models, and they must be stored in an information system that ensures open access to consistent, long-term data. This committee emphasized that the only feasible way to collect these consistent, long-term data is through the use of space-based Earth "remote sensors" (instruments that can measure from a distance things like temperature).

Discover Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steele, Colleen

1998-01-01

Discover Earth is a NASA-sponsored project for teachers of grades 5-12, designed to: (1) enhance understanding of the Earth as an integrated system; (2) enhance the interdisciplinary approach to science instruction; and (3) provide classroom materials that focus on those goals. Discover Earth is conducted by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in collaboration with Dr. Eric Barron, Director, Earth System Science Center, The Pennsylvania State University; and Dr. Robert Hudson, Chair, the Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland at College Park. The enclosed materials: (1) represent only part of the Discover Earth materials; (2) were developed by classroom teachers who are participating in the Discover Earth project; (3) utilize an investigative approach and on-line data; and (4) can be effectively adjusted to classrooms with greater/without technology access. The Discover Earth classroom materials focus on the Earth system and key issues of global climate change including topics such as the greenhouse effect, clouds and Earth's radiation balance, surface hydrology and land cover, and volcanoes and climate change. All the materials developed to date are available on line at (http://www.strategies.org) You are encouraged to submit comments and recommendations about these materials to the Discover Earth project manager, contact information is listed below. You are welcome to duplicate all these materials.

Understanding Student Cognition about Complex Earth System Processes Related to Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeal, K. S.; Libarkin, J.; Ledley, T. S.; Dutta, S.; Templeton, M. C.; Geroux, J.; Blakeney, G. A.

2011-12-01

The Earth's climate system includes complex behavior and interconnections with other Earth spheres that present challenges to student learning. To better understand these unique challenges, we have conducted experiments with high-school and introductory level college students to determine how information pertaining to the connections between the Earth's atmospheric system and the other Earth spheres (e.g., hydrosphere and cryosphere) are processed. Specifically, we include psychomotor tests (e.g., eye-tracking) and open-ended questionnaires in this research study, where participants were provided scientific images of the Earth (e.g., global precipitation and ocean and atmospheric currents), eye-tracked, and asked to provide causal or relational explanations about the viewed images. In addition, the students engaged in on-line modules (http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/climate/index.html) focused on Earth system science as training activities to address potential cognitive barriers. The developed modules included interactive media, hands-on lessons, links to outside resources, and formative assessment questions to promote a supportive and data-rich learning environment. Student eye movements were tracked during engagement with the materials to determine the role of perception and attention on understanding. Students also completed a conceptual questionnaire pre-post to determine if these on-line curriculum materials assisted in their development of connections between Earth's atmospheric system and the other Earth systems. The pre-post results of students' thinking about climate change concepts, as well as eye-tracking results, will be presented.

Teaching Climate Change Using System Models: An Understanding Global Change Project Pilot Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bean, J. R.; Stuhlsatz, M.; Bracey, Z. B.; Marshall, C. R.

2017-12-01

Teaching and learning about historical and anthropogenic climate change in the classroom requires integrating instructional resources that address physical, chemical, and biological processes. The Understanding Global Change (UGC) framework and system models developed at the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) provide visualizations of the relationships and feedbacks between Earth system processes, and the consequences of anthropogenic activities on global climate. This schema provides a mechanism for developing pedagogic narratives that are known to support comprehension and retention of information and relationships. We designed a nine-day instructional unit for middle and high school students that includes a sequence of hands-on, inquiry-based, data rich activities combined with conceptual modeling exercises intended to foster students' development of systems thinking and their understanding of human influences on Earth system processes. The pilot unit, Sea Level Rise in the San Francisco Bay Area, addresses the human causes and consequences of sea level rise and related Earth system processes (i.e., the water cycle and greenhouse effect). Most of the content is not Bay Area specific, and could be used to explore sea level rise in any coastal region. Students completed pre and post assessments, which included questions about the connectedness of components of the Earth system and probed their attitudes towards participating in environmental stewardship activities. Students sequentially drew models representing the content explored in the activities and wrote short descriptions of their system diagrams that were collected by teachers for analysis. We also randomly assigned classes to engage in a very short additional intervention that asked students to think about the role that humans play in the Earth system and to draw themselves into the models. The study will determine if these students have higher stewardship scores and more frequently discuss their personal impact on the Earth system in their writing tasks. The results from this pilot will inform the design of future resources using UGC system models.

Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: Educational CD-ROM Activity Supplement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been studying the Earth and its changing environment by observing the atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, and snow, and their influence on weather and climate. We now understand that the key to gaining a better understanding of the global environment is exploring how the Earth's systems of air, land, water, and life interact with each other. This approach-called Earth Systems Science-blends together fields like meteorology, oceanography, geology, and biology. In 1991, NASA launched a more comprehensive program to study the Earth as an integrated environmental system. They call it NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. A major component of the Earth Science Enterprise is the Earth Observing System (EOS). EOS is series of satellites to be launched over the next two decades that will be used to intensively study the Earth, with the hopes of expanding our under- standing of how natural processes affect us, and how we might be affecting them. Such studies will yield improved weather forecasts, tools for managing agriculture and forests, information for fishermen and local planners, and, eventually, the ability to predict how the climate will change in the future. Today's program is laying the foundation for long-term environmental and climate monitoring and prediction. Potentially, this will provide the understanding needed in the future to support difficult decisions regarding the Earth's environment.

77 FR 32637 - Change in Bank Control Notices; Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or Bank Holding Company

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-01

... FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Change in Bank Control Notices; Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or Bank.... Eckles as Trustee, Blue Earth, Minnesota; to retain control of FNB Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly retain control of First Bank Blue Earth, both in Blue Earth, Minnesota. Board of Governors of the...

Integrating thematic web portal capabilities into the NASA Earthdata Web Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, M. M.; McLaughlin, B. D.; Huang, T.; Baynes, K.

2015-12-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) acquires and distributes an abundance of Earth science data on a daily basis to a diverse user community worldwide. To assist the scientific community and general public in achieving a greater understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of Earth science and of key environmental and climate change topics, the NASA Earthdata web infrastructure is integrating new methods of presenting and providing access to Earth science information, data, research and results. This poster will present the process of integrating thematic web portal capabilities into the NASA Earthdata web infrastructure, with examples from the Sea Level Change Portal. The Sea Level Change Portal will be a source of current NASA research, data and information regarding sea level change. The portal will provide sea level change information through articles, graphics, videos and animations, an interactive tool to view and access sea level change data and a dashboard showing sea level change indicators. Earthdata is a part of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) project. EOSDIS is a key core capability in NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Program. It provides end-to-end capabilities for managing NASA's Earth science data from various sources - satellites, aircraft, field measurements, and various other programs. It is comprised of twelve Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), Science Computing Facilities (SCFs), data discovery and service access client (Reverb and Earthdata Search), dataset directory (Global Change Master Directory - GCMD), near real-time data (Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS - LANCE), Worldview (an imagery visualization interface), Global Imagery Browse Services, the Earthdata Code Collaborative and a host of other discipline specific data discovery, data access, data subsetting and visualization tools.

The Contribution of GGOS to Understanding Dynamic Earth Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gross, Richard

2017-04-01

Geodesy is the science of the Earth's shape, size, gravity and rotation, including their evolution in time. Geodetic observations play a major role in the solid Earth sciences because they are fundamental for the understanding and modeling of Earth system processes. Changes in the Earth's shape, its gravitational field, and its rotation are caused by external forces acting on the Earth system and internal processes involving mass transfer and exchange of angular and linear momentum. Thus, variations in these geodetic quantities of the Earth reflect and constrain mechanical and thermo-dynamic processes in the Earth system. Mitigating the impact on human life and property of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, debris flows, landslides, land subsidence, sea level change, tsunamis, floods, storm surges, hurricanes and extreme weather is an important scientific task to which geodetic observations make fundamental contributions. Geodetic observations can be used to monitor the pre-eruptive deformation of volcanoes and the pre-seismic deformation of earthquake fault zones, aiding in the issuance of volcanic eruption and earthquake warnings. They can also be used to rapidly estimate earthquake fault motion, aiding in the modeling of tsunami genesis and the issuance of tsunami warnings. Geodetic observations are also used in other areas of the Earth sciences, not just the solid Earth sciences. For example, geodesy contributes to atmospheric science by supporting both observation and prediction of the weather by geo-referencing meteorological observing data and by globally tracking change in stratospheric mass and lower tropospheric water vapor fields. Geodetic measurements of refraction profiles derived from satellite occultation data are routinely assimilated into numerical weather prediction models. Geodesy contributes to hydrologic studies by providing a unique global reference system for measurements of: sub-seasonal, seasonal and secular movements of continental and basin-scale water masses; loading and unloading of the land surface due to seasonal changes of groundwater; measurement of water level of major lakes and rivers by satellite altimetry; and improved digital terrain models as basis for flux modeling of surface water and flood modeling. Geodesy is crucial for cryospheric studies because of its ability to measure the motions of ice masses and changes in their volumes. Ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice are intricately linked to the Earth's climate system. They store a record of past climate; they strongly affect surface energy budget, global water cycle, and sea-level change; and they are sensitive indicators of climate change. Geodesy is at the heart of all present-day ocean studies. Geodetic observations uniquely produce accurate, quantitative, and integrated observations of gravity, ocean circulation, sea surface height, ocean bottom pressure, and mass exchanges among the ocean, cryosphere, and land. Geodetic observations have made fundamental contributions to monitoring and understanding physical ocean processes. In particular, geodesy is the basic technique used to determine an accurate geoid model, allowing for the determination of absolute surface geostrophic currents, which are necessary to quantify heat transport of the ocean. Geodesy also provides the absolute reference for tide gauge measurements, allowing those measurements to be merged with satellite altimetric measurements to provide a coherent worldwide monitoring system for sea level change. In this presentation, selected examples of the contribution of geodetic observations to understanding the dynamic Earth system will be presented.

Data Information for Global Change Studies: NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers and Cooperating Data Centers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is an integral part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). ESE is a long-term global change research program designed to improve our understanding of the Earth's interrelated processes involving the atmosphere, oceans, land surfaces, and polar regions. Data from EOS instruments and other Earth science measurement systems are useful in understanding the causes and processes of global climate change and the consequences of human activities. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) provides a structure for data management and user services for products derived from EOS satellite instruments and other NASA Earth science data. Within the EOSDIS framework, the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) have been established to provide expertise in one or more Earth science disciplines. The DAACs and cooperating data centers provide data and information services to support the global change research community. Much of the development of the DAACs has been in anticipation of the enormous amount of data expected from EOS instruments to be launched within the next two decades. Terra, the EOS flagship launched in December 1999, is the first of a series of EOS satellites to carry several instruments with multispectral capabilities. Some data products from these instruments are now available from several of the DAACs. These and other data products can be ordered through the EOS Data Gateway (EDG) and DAAC-specific online ordering systems.

Earth System Science: An Integrated Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environment, 2001

2001-01-01

Details how an understanding of the role played by human activities in global environmental change has emerged. Presents information about the earth system provided by research programs. Speculates about the direction of future research. (DDR)

On possible interconnections between Climate Change and Earth rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zotov, Leonid; Christian, Bizouard; Sidorenkov, Nikolay

The question of interconnections between rotation of the Earth and Climate Change raised more, then 30 years ago. In Lambeck’s, Sidorenkov’s and others books the correlation between the secular changes of temperature and rotation velocity of the Earth was found. Since Climate Change brings to the redistribution of water and ice mass, ocean currents and atmospheric circulation, it also influences the angular momentum and moment of inertia of the Earth system, what causes variations in its rotation. We present the results of analysis of global temperature, sea level, Chandler wobble, atmospheric winds, and length of day (LOD) changes with arguments testifying possible interrelations between these processes and their dependence on space factors.

Visualizing Dynamic Weather and Ocean Data in Google Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castello, C.; Giencke, P.

2008-12-01

Katrina. Climate change. Rising sea levels. Low lake levels. These headliners, and countless others like them, underscore the need to better understand our changing oceans and lakes. Over the past decade, efforts such as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) have added to this understanding, through the creation of interoperable ocean observing systems. These systems, including buoy networks, gliders, UAV's, etc, have resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount of Earth observation data available to the public. Unfortunately, these data tend to be restrictive to mass consumption, owing to large file sizes, incompatible formats, and/or a dearth of user friendly visualization software. Google Earth offers a flexible way to visualize Earth observation data. Marrying high resolution orthoimagery, user friendly query and navigation tools, and the power of OGC's KML standard, Google Earth can make observation data universally understandable and accessible. This presentation will feature examples of meteorological and oceanographic data visualized using KML and Google Earth, along with tools and tips for integrating other such environmental datasets.

Earth from Space: The Power of Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdalati, W.

2016-12-01

Throughout history, humans have always valued the view from above, seeking high ground to survey the land, find food, assess threats, and understand their immediate environment. The advent of aircraft early in the 20th century took this capability literally to new levels, as aerial photos of farm lands, hazards, military threats, etc. provided new opportunities for security and prosperity. And in 1960, with the launch of the first weather satellite, TIROS, we came to know our world in ways that were not possible before, as we saw the Earth as a system of interacting components. In the decades since, our ability to understand the Earth System and its dynamic components has been transformed profoundly and repeatedly by satellite observations. From examining changes in sea level, to deformation of the Earth surface, to ozone depletion, to the Earth's energy balance, satellites have helped us understand our changing planet in ways that would not have otherwise been possible. The challenge moving forward is to continue to evolve beyond watching Earth processes unfold and understanding the underlying mechanisms of change, to anticipating future conditions, more comprehensively than we do today, for the benefit of society. The capabilities to do so are well within our reach, and with appropriate investments in observing systems, research, and activities that support translating observations into societal value, we can realize the full potential of this tremendous space-based perspective. Doing so will not just change our views of the Earth, but will improve our relationship with it.

Global Change Data Center: Mission, Organization, Major Activities, and 2001 Highlights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wharton, Stephen W. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Rapid efficient access to Earth sciences data is fundamental to the Nation's efforts to understand the effects of global environmental changes and their implications for public policy. It becomes a bigger challenge in the future when data volumes increase further and missions with constellations of satellites start to appear. Demands on data storage, data access, network throughput, processing power, and database and information management are increased by orders of magnitude, while budgets remain constant and even shrink. The Global Change Data Center's (GCDC) mission is to provide systems, data products, and information management services to maximize the availability and utility of NASA's Earth science data. The specific objectives are (1) support Earth science missions be developing and operating systems to generate, archive, and distribute data products and information; (2) develop innovative information systems for processing, archiving, accessing, visualizing, and communicating Earth science data; and (3) develop value-added products and services to promote broader utilization of NASA Earth Sciences Enterprise (ESE) data and information. The ultimate product of GCDC activities is access to data and information to support research, education, and public policy.

Mission operations update for the restructured Earth Observing System (EOS) mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelly, Angelita Castro; Chang, Edward S.

1993-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) will provide a comprehensive long term set of observations of the Earth to the Earth science research community. The data will aid in determining global changes caused both naturally and through human interaction. Understanding man's impact on the global environment will allow sound policy decisions to be made to protect our future. EOS is a major component of the Mission to Planet Earth program, which is NASA's contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. EOS consists of numerous instruments on multiple spacecraft and a distributed ground system. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is the major ground system developed to support EOS. The EOSDIS will provide EOS spacecraft command and control, data processing, product generation, and data archival and distribution services for EOS spacecraft. Data from EOS instruments on other Earth science missions (e.g., Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)) will also be processed, distributed, and archived in EOSDIS. The U.S. and various International Partners (IP) (e.g., the European Space Agency (ESA), the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)) participate in and contribute to the international EOS program. The EOSDIS will also archive processed data from other designated NASA Earth science missions (e.g., UARS) that are under the broad umbrella of Mission to Planet Earth.

Gravity Field Changes due to Long-Term Sea Level Changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makarynskyy, O.; Kuhn, M.; Featherstone, W. E.

2004-12-01

Long-term sea level changes caused by climatic changes (e.g. global warming) will alter the system Earth. This includes the redistribution of ocean water masses due to the migration of cold fresh water from formerly ice-covered regions to the open oceans mainly caused by the deglaciation of polar ice caps. Consequently also a change in global ocean circulation patterns will occur. Over a longer timescale, such mass redistributions will be followed by isostatic rebound/depression due to the changed surface un/loading, resulting in variable sea level change around the world. These, in turn, will affect the gravity field, location of the geocentre, and the Earth's rotation vector. This presentation focuses mainly on gravity field changes induced by long-term (hundredths to many thousand years) sea level changes using an Earth System Climate Model (ESCM) of intermediate complexity. In this study, the coupled University of Victoria (Victoria, Canada) Earth System Climate Model (Uvic ESCM) was used, which embraces the primary thermodynamic and hydrological components of the climate system including sea and land-ice information. The model was implemented to estimate changes in global precipitation, ocean mass redistribution, seawater temperature and salinity on timescales from hundreds to thousands years under different greenhouse warming scenarios. The sea level change output of the model has been converted into real mass changes by removing the steric effect, computed from seawater temperature and salinity information at different layers also provided by Uvic ESCM. Finally the obtained mass changes have been converted into changes of the gravitational potential and subsequently of the geoid height using a spherical harmonic representation of the different data. Preliminary numerical results are provided for sea level change as well as change in geoid height.

EarthSat spring wheat yield system test 1975

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The results of an operational test of the EarthSat System during the period 1 June - 30 August 1975 over the spring wheat regions of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota are presented. The errors associated with each sub-element of the system during the operational test and the sensitivity of the complete system and each major functional sub-element of the system to the observed errors were evaluated. Evaluations and recommendations for future operational users of the system include: (1) changes in various system sub-elements, (2) changes in the yield model to affect improved accuracy, (3) changes in the number of geobased cells needed to develop an accurate aggregated yield estimate, (4) changes associated with the implementation of future operational satellites and data processing systems, and (5) detailed system documentation.

Science Writers' Guide to TERRA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

The launch of NASA's Terra spacecraft marks a new era of comprehensive monitoring of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and continents from a single space-based platform. Data from the five Terra instruments will create continuous, long-term records of the state of the land, oceans, and atmosphere. Together with data from other satellite systems launched by NASA and other countries, Terra will inaugurate a new self-consistent data record that will be gathered over the next 15 years. The science objectives of NASAs Earth Observing System (EOS) program are to provide global observations and scientific understanding of land cover change and global productivity, climate variability and change, natural hazards, and atmospheric ozone. Observations by the Terra instruments will: provide the first global and seasonal measurements of the Earth system, including such critical functions as biological productivity of the land and oceans, snow and ice, surface temperature, clouds, water vapor, and land cover; improve our ability to detect human impacts on the Earth system and climate, identify the "fingerprint" of human activity on climate, and predict climate change by using the new global observations in climate models; help develop technologies for disaster prediction, characterization, and risk reduction from wildfires, volcanoes, floods, and droughts, and start long-term monitoring of global climate change and environmental change.

Understanding Water-Energy-Ecology Nexus from an Integrated Earth-Human System Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H. Y.; Zhang, X.; Wan, W.; Zhuang, Y.; Hejazi, M. I.; Leung, L. R.

2017-12-01

Both Earth and human systems exert notable controls on streamflow and stream temperature that influence energy production and ecosystem health. An integrated water model representing river processes and reservoir regulations has been developed and coupled to a land surface model and an integrated assessment model of energy, land, water, and socioeconomics to investigate the energy-water-ecology nexus in the context of climate change and water management. Simulations driven by two climate change projections following the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 radiative forcing scenarios, with and without water management, are analyzed to evaluate the individual and combined effects of climate change and water management on streamflow and stream temperature in the U.S. The simulations revealed important impacts of climate change and water management on hydrological droughts. The simulations also revealed the dynamics of competition between changes in water demand and water availability in the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios that influence streamflow and stream temperature, with important consequences to thermoelectricity production and future survival of juvenile Salmon. The integrated water model is being implemented to the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME), a coupled Earth System Model, to enable future investigations of the energy-water-ecology nexus in the integrated Earth-Human system.

Analytically tractable climate-carbon cycle feedbacks under 21st century anthropogenic forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lade, Steven J.; Donges, Jonathan F.; Fetzer, Ingo; Anderies, John M.; Beer, Christian; Cornell, Sarah E.; Gasser, Thomas; Norberg, Jon; Richardson, Katherine; Rockström, Johan; Steffen, Will

2018-05-01

Changes to climate-carbon cycle feedbacks may significantly affect the Earth system's response to greenhouse gas emissions. These feedbacks are usually analysed from numerical output of complex and arguably opaque Earth system models. Here, we construct a stylised global climate-carbon cycle model, test its output against comprehensive Earth system models, and investigate the strengths of its climate-carbon cycle feedbacks analytically. The analytical expressions we obtain aid understanding of carbon cycle feedbacks and the operation of the carbon cycle. Specific results include that different feedback formalisms measure fundamentally the same climate-carbon cycle processes; temperature dependence of the solubility pump, biological pump, and CO2 solubility all contribute approximately equally to the ocean climate-carbon feedback; and concentration-carbon feedbacks may be more sensitive to future climate change than climate-carbon feedbacks. Simple models such as that developed here also provide workbenches for simple but mechanistically based explorations of Earth system processes, such as interactions and feedbacks between the planetary boundaries, that are currently too uncertain to be included in comprehensive Earth system models.

From pattern to process: The strategy of the Earth Observing System: Volume 2: EOS Science Steering Committee report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) represents a new approach to the study of the Earth. It consists of remotely sensed and correlative in situ observations designed to address important, interrelated global-scale processes. There is an urgent need to study the Earth as a complete, integrated system in order to understand and predict changes caused by human activities and natural processes. The EOS approach is based on an information system concept and designed to provide a long-term study of the Earth using a variety of measurement methods from both operational and research satellite payloads and continuing ground-based Earth science studies. The EOS concept builds on the foundation of the earlier, single-discipline space missions designed for relatively short observation periods. Continued progress in our understanding of the Earth as a system will come from EOS observations spanning several decades using a variety of contemporaneous measurements.

The NASA Earth Science Flight Program: an update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.

2015-10-01

Earth's changing environment impacts every aspect of life on our planet and climate change has profound implications on society. Studying Earth as a single complex system is essential to understanding the causes and consequences of climate change and other global environmental concerns. NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) shapes an interdisciplinary view of Earth, exploring interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface interior, and life itself. This enables scientists to measure global and climate changes and to inform decisions by government, other organizations, and people in the United States and around the world. The data collected and results generated are accessible to other agencies and organizations to improve the products and services they provide, including air quality indices, disaster prediction and response, agricultural yield projections, and aviation safety. ESD's Flight Program provides the space based observing systems and infrastructure for mission operations and scientific data processing and distribution that support NASA's Earth science research and modeling activities. The Flight Program currently has 21 operating Earth observing space missions, including the recently launched Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, and the International Space Station (ISS) RapidSCAT and Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) instruments. The ESD has 22 more missions and instruments planned for launch over the next decade. These include first and second tier missions from the 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey, Climate Continuity missions and selected instruments to assure availability of key climate data sets, operational missions to ensure sustained land imaging provided by the Landsat system, and small-sized competitively selected orbital missions and instrument missions of opportunity belonging to the Earth Venture (EV) Program. Some examples are the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), ICESat-2, SAGE III on ISS, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On (GRACE FO), Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS), and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Lidar missions. An overview of plans and current status will be presented.

The NASA Earth Science Program and Small Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neeck, Steven P.

2015-01-01

Earth's changing environment impacts every aspect of life on our planet and climate change has profound implications on society. Studying Earth as a single complex system is essential to understanding the causes and consequences of climate change and other global environmental concerns. NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) shapes an interdisciplinary view of Earth, exploring interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface interior, and life itself. This enables scientists to measure global and climate changes and to inform decisions by Government, other organizations, and people in the United States and around the world. The data collected and results generated are accessible to other agencies and organizations to improve the products and services they provide, including air quality indices, disaster prediction and response, agricultural yield projections, and aviation safety. ESD's Flight Program provides the spacebased observing systems and supporting infrastructure for mission operations and scientific data processing and distribution that support NASA's Earth science research and modeling activities. The Flight Program currently has 21 operating Earth observing space missions, including the recently launched Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, and the International Space Station (ISS) RapidSCAT and Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) instruments. The ESD has 22 more missions and instruments planned for launch over the next decade. These include first and second tier missions from the 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey, Climate Continuity missions to assure availability of key climate data sets, and small-sized competitively selected orbital missions and instrument missions of opportunity belonging to the Earth Venture (EV) Program. Small satellites (500 kg or less) are critical contributors to these current and future satellite missions. Some examples are the aforementioned Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On (GRACE FO), and the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) microsatellite constellation. Small satellites also support ESD in space validation and risk reduction of enabling technologies (components and systems). The status of the ESD Flight Program and the role of small satellites will be discussed.

Marine Aerosol Precursor Emissions for Earth System Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maltrud, Mathew Einar

2016-07-25

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is generated by marine ecosystems and plays a major role in cloud formation over the ocean. Currently, Earth System Models use imposed flux of DMS from the ocean to the atmosphere that is independent of the climate state. We have added DMS as a prognostic variable to the Community Earth System Model (CESM) that depends on the distribution of phytoplankton species, and thus changes with climate.

Overview of the Earth System Science Education Alliance Online Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botti, J. A.

2001-12-01

Science education reform has skyrocketed over the last decade in large part thanks to technology-and one technology in particular, the Internet. The World Wide Web has opened up dynamic new online communities of learners. It has allowed educators from around the world to share thoughts about Earth system science and reexamine the way science is taught. A positive offshoot of this reform effort is the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA). This partnership among universities, colleges, and science education organizations is led by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the Center for Educational TechnologiesTM at Wheeling Jesuit University. ESSEA's mission is to improve Earth system science education. ESSEA has developed three Earth system science courses for K-12 teachers. These online courses guide teachers into collaborative, student-centered science education experiences. Not only do these courses support teachers' professional development, they also help teachers implement Earth systems science content and age-appropriate pedagogical methods into their classrooms. The ESSEA courses are open to elementary, middle school, and high school teachers. Each course lasts one semester. The courses begin with three weeks of introductory content. Then teachers develop content and pedagogical and technological knowledge in four three-week learning cycles. The elementary school course focuses on basic Earth system interactions between land, life, air, and water. In week A of each learning cycle, teachers do earth system activities with their students. In week B teachers investigate aspects of the Earth system -- for instance, the reason rocks change to soil, the relationship between rock weathering and soil nutrients, and the consequent development of biomes. In week C teachers develop classroom activities and share them online with other course participants. The middle school course stresses the effects of real-world events -- volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, rainforest destruction -- on Earth's lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. Teachers team during week A of each cycle to research the effect of each event on individual spheres. In week B groups "jigsaw" to study the interactions between events, spheres, and positive and negative feedback loops. In week C teachers develop classroom activities. The high school course uses problem-based learning to examine critical areas of global change, such as coral reef degradation, ozone depletion, and climate change. The ESSEA presentation provides examples of learning environments from each of the three courses.

Overview of the Earth System Science Education Alliance Online Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botti, J.; Myers, R.

2002-12-01

Science education reform has skyrocketed over the last decade in large part thanks to technology-and one technology in particular, the Internet. The World Wide Web has opened up dynamic new online communities of learners. It has allowed educators from around the world to share thoughts about Earth system science and reexamine the way science is taught. A positive offshoot of this reform effort is the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA). This partnership among universities, colleges, and science education organizations is led by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the Center for Educational Technologiestm at Wheeling Jesuit University. ESSEA's mission is to improve Earth system science education. ESSEA has developed three Earth system science courses for K-12 teachers. These online courses guide teachers into collaborative, student-centered science education experiences. Not only do these courses support teachers' professional development, they also help teachers implement Earth systems science content and age-appropriate pedagogical methods into their classrooms. The ESSEA courses are open to elementary, middle school, and high school teachers. Each course lasts one semester. The courses begin with three weeks of introductory content. Then teachers develop content and pedagogical and technological knowledge in four three-week learning cycles. The elementary school course focuses on basic Earth system interactions between land, life, air, and water. In week A of each learning cycle, teachers do earth system activities with their students. In week B teachers investigate aspects of the Earth system-for instance, the reason rocks change to soil, the relationship between rock weathering and soil nutrients, and the consequent development of biomes. In week C teachers develop classroom activities and share them online with other course participants. The middle school course stresses the effects of real-world events-volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, rainforest destruction-on Earth's lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. Teachers team during week A of each cycle to research the effect of each event on individual spheres. In week B groups "jigsaw" to study the interactions between events, spheres, and positive and negative feedback loops. In week C teachers develop classroom activities. The high school course uses problem-based learning to examine critical areas of global change, such as coral reef degradation, ozone depletion, and climate change. The ESSEA presentation provides examples of learning environments from each of the three courses.

Use of global positioning system measurements to determine geocentric coordinates and variations in Earth orientation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malla, R. P.; Wu, S.-C.; Lichten, S. M.

1993-01-01

Geocentric tracking station coordinates and short-period Earth-orientation variations can be measured with Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements. Unless calibrated, geocentric coordinate errors and changes in Earth orientation can lead to significant deep-space tracking errors. Ground-based GPS estimates of daily and subdaily changes in Earth orientation presently show centimeter-level precision. Comparison between GPS-estimated Earth-rotation variations, which are the differences between Universal Time 1 and Universal Coordinated Time (UT1-UTC), and those calculated from ocean tide models suggests that observed subdaily variations in Earth rotation are dominated by oceanic tidal effects. Preliminary GPS estimates for the geocenter location (from a 3-week experiment) agree with independent satellite laser-ranging estimates to better than 10 cm. Covariance analysis predicts that temporal resolution of GPS estimates for Earth orientation and geocenter improves significantly when data collected from low Earth-orbiting satellites as well as from ground sites are combined. The low Earth GPS tracking data enhance the accuracy and resolution for measuring high-frequency global geodynamical signals over time scales of less than 1 day.

Recent climatic, cryospheric, and hydrological changes over the interior of western Canada: a synthesis and review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeBeer, C. M.; Wheater, H. S.; Carey, S. K.; Chun, K. P.

2015-08-01

It is well-established that the Earth's climate system has warmed significantly over the past several decades, and in association there have been widespread changes in various other Earth system components. This has been especially prevalent in the cold regions of the northern mid to high-latitudes. Examples of these changes can be found within the western and northern interior of Canada, a region that exemplifies the scientific and societal issues faced in many other similar parts of the world, and where impacts have global-scale consequences. This region has been the geographic focus of a large amount of previous research on changing climatic, cryospheric, and hydrological Earth system components in recent decades, while current initiatives such as the Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) seek to further develop the understanding and diagnosis of this change and hence improve predictive capacity. This paper provides an integrated review of the observed changes in these Earth system components and a concise and up-to-date regional picture of some of the temporal trends over the interior of western Canada since the mid or late-20th century. The focus is on air temperature, precipitation, seasonal snow cover, mountain glaciers, permafrost, freshwater ice cover, and river discharge. Important long-term observational networks and datasets are described, and qualitative linkages among the changing components are highlighted. Systematic warming and significant changes to precipitation, snow and ice regimes are unambiguous. However, integrated effects on streamflow are complex. It is argued that further diagnosis is required before predictions of future change can be made with confidence.

Lightweight Phase-Change Material For Solar Power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stark, Philip

1993-01-01

Lightweight panels containing phase-change materials developed for use as heat-storage elements of compact, lightweight, advanced solar dynamic power system. During high insolation, heat stored in panels via latent heat of fusion of phase-change material; during low insolation, heat withdrawn from panels. Storage elements consist mainly of porous carbon-fiber structures imbued with germanium. Developed for use aboard space station in orbit around Earth, also adapted to lightweight, compact, portable solar-power systems for use on Earth.

Information data systems for a global change technology initiative architecture trade study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murray, Nicholas D.

1991-01-01

The Global Change Technology Initiative (GCTI) was established to develop technology which will enable use of satellite systems of Earth observations on a global scale, enable use of the observations to predictively model Earth's changes, and provide scientists, government, business, and industry with quick access to the resulting information. At LaRC, a GCTI Architecture Trade Study was undertaken to develop and evaluate the architectural implications to meet the requirements of the global change studies and the eventual implementation of a global change system. The output of the trade study are recommended technologies for the GCTI. That portion of the study concerned with the information data system is documented. The information data system for an earth global change modeling system can be very extensive and beyond affordability in terms of today's costs. Therefore, an incremental approach to gaining a system is most likely. An options approach to levels of capability versus needed technologies was developed. The primary drivers of the requirements for the information data system evaluation were the needed science products, the science measurements, the spacecraft orbits, the instruments configurations, and the spacecraft configurations and their attendant architectures. The science products requirements were not studied here; however, some consideration of the product needs were included in the evaluation results. The information data system technology items were identified from the viewpoint of the desirable overall information system characteristics.

Geophysics From Terrestrial Time-Variable Gravity Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Camp, Michel; de Viron, Olivier; Watlet, Arnaud; Meurers, Bruno; Francis, Olivier; Caudron, Corentin

2017-12-01

In a context of global change and increasing anthropic pressure on the environment, monitoring the Earth system and its evolution has become one of the key missions of geosciences. Geodesy is the geoscience that measures the geometric shape of the Earth, its orientation in space, and gravity field. Time-variable gravity, because of its high accuracy, can be used to build an enhanced picture and understanding of the changing Earth. Ground-based gravimetry can determine the change in gravity related to the Earth rotation fluctuation, to celestial body and Earth attractions, to the mass in the direct vicinity of the instruments, and to vertical displacement of the instrument itself on the ground. In this paper, we review the geophysical questions that can be addressed by ground gravimeters used to monitor time-variable gravity. This is done in relation to the instrumental characteristics, noise sources, and good practices. We also discuss the next challenges to be met by ground gravimetry, the place that terrestrial gravimetry should hold in the Earth observation system, and perspectives and recommendations about the future of ground gravity instrumentation.

Four dimensional studies in earth space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mather, R. S.

1972-01-01

A system of reference which is directly related to observations, is proposed for four-dimensional studies in earth space. Global control network and polar wandering are defined. The determination of variations in the earth's gravitational field with time also forms part of such a system. Techniques are outlined for the unique definition of the motion of the geocenter, and the changes in the location of the axis of rotation of an instantaneous earth model, in relation to values at some epoch of reference. The instantaneous system referred to is directly related to a fundamental equation in geodynamics. The reference system defined would provide an unambiguous frame for long period studies in earth space, provided the scale of the space were specified.

Moving Carbon, Changing Earth: Bringing the Carbon Cycle to Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zabel, I.; Duggan-Haas, D.; Ross, R. M.; Stricker, B.; Mahowald, N. M.

2014-12-01

The carbon cycle presents challenges to researchers - in how to understand the complex interactions of fluxes, reservoirs, and systems - and to outreach professionals - in how to get across the complexity of the carbon cycle and still make it accessible to the public. At Cornell University and the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, NY, researchers and outreach staff tackled these challenges together through a 2013 temporary museum exhibition: Moving Carbon, Changing Earth. Moving Carbon, Changing Earth introduced visitors to the world of carbon and its effect on every part of our lives. The exhibit was the result of the broader impacts portion of an NSF grant awarded to Natalie Mahowald, Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University, who has been working with a team to improve simulations of regional and decadal variability in the carbon cycle. Within the exhibition, visitors used systems thinking to understand the distribution of carbon in and among Earth's systems, learning how (and how quickly or slowly) carbon moves between and within these systems, the relative scale of different reservoirs, and how carbon's movement changes climate and other environmental dynamics. Five interactive stations represented the oceans, lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and a mystery reservoir. Puzzles, videos, real specimens, and an interview with Mahowald clarified and communicated the complexities of the carbon cycle. In this talk we'll present background information on Mahowald's research as well as photos of the exhibition and discussion of the components and motivations behind them, showing examples of innovative ways to bring a complex topic to life for museum visitors.

On-orbit characterizations of Earth Radiation Budget Experiment broadband shortwave active cavity radiometer sensor responses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Robert B., III; Wilson, Robert S.; Smith, G. Louis; Bush, Kathryn A.; Thomas, Susan; Pandey, Dhirendra K.; Paden, Jack

2004-12-01

The NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) missions were designed to monitor long-term changes in the earth radiation budget components which may cause climate changes. During the October 1984 through September 2004 period, the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS)/ERBE nonscanning active cavity radiometers (ACR) were used to monitor long-term changes in the earth radiation budget components of the incoming total solar irradiance (TSI), earth-reflected TSI, and earth-emitted outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). The earth-reflected total solar irradiances were measured using broadband shortwave fused, waterless quartz (Suprasil) filters and ACR"s that were covered with a black paint absorbing surface. Using on-board calibration systems, 1984 through 1999, long-term ERBS/ERBE ACR sensor response changes were determined from direct observations of the incoming TSI in the 0.2-5 micrometer shortwave broadband spectral region. During the October 1984 through September 1999 period, the ERBS shortwave sensor responses were found to decrease as much as 8.8% when the quartz filter transmittances decreased due to direct exposure to TSI. On October 6, 1999, the on-board ERBS calibration systems failed. To estimate the 1999-2004, ERBS sensor response changes, the 1984-1997 NOAA-9, and 1986-1995 NOAA-10 Spacecraft ERBE ACR responses were used to characterize response changes as a function of exposure time. The NOAA-9 and NOAA-10 ACR responses decreased as much as 10% due to higher integrated TSI exposure times. In this paper, for each of the ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10 Spacecraft platforms, the solar calibrations of the ERBE sensor responses are described as well as the derived ERBE sensor response changes as a function of TSI exposure time. For the 1984-2003 ERBS data sets, it is estimated that the calibrated ERBE earth-reflected TSI measurements have precisions approaching 0.2 Watts-per-squared-meter at satellite altitudes.

Observing and Modeling Earth's Energy Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, Bjorn; Schwartz, Stephen E.

2012-07-01

This article reviews, from the authors' perspective, progress in observing and modeling energy flows in Earth's climate system. Emphasis is placed on the state of understanding of Earth's energy flows and their susceptibility to perturbations, with particular emphasis on the roles of clouds and aerosols. More accurate measurements of the total solar irradiance and the rate of change of ocean enthalpy help constrain individual components of the energy budget at the top of the atmosphere to within ±2 W m-2. The measurements demonstrate that Earth reflects substantially less solar radiation and emits more terrestrial radiation than was believed even a decade ago. Active remote sensing is helping to constrain the surface energy budget, but new estimates of downwelling surface irradiance that benefit from such methods are proving difficult to reconcile with existing precipitation climatologies. Overall, the energy budget at the surface is much more uncertain than at the top of the atmosphere. A decade of high-precision measurements of the energy budget at the top of the atmosphere is providing new opportunities to track Earth's energy flows on timescales ranging from days to years, and at very high spatial resolution. The measurements show that the principal limitation in the estimate of secular trends now lies in the natural variability of the Earth system itself. The forcing-feedback-response framework, which has developed to understand how changes in Earth's energy flows affect surface temperature, is reviewed in light of recent work that shows fast responses (adjustments) of the system are central to the definition of the effective forcing that results from a change in atmospheric composition. In many cases, the adjustment, rather than the characterization of the compositional perturbation (associated, for instance, with changing greenhouse gas concentrations, or aerosol burdens), limits accurate determination of the radiative forcing. Changes in clouds contribute importantly to this adjustment and thus contribute both to uncertainty in estimates of radiative forcing and to uncertainty in the response. Models are indispensable to calculation of the adjustment of the system to a compositional change but are known to be flawed in their representation of clouds. Advances in tracking Earth's energy flows and compositional changes on daily through decadal timescales are shown to provide both a critical and constructive framework for advancing model development and evaluation.

Modeling Earth's Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallant, Amy; Lee, Hee-Sun; Pryputniewicz, Sara

2012-01-01

Systems thinking suggests that one can best understand a complex system by studying the interrelationships of its component parts rather than looking at the individual parts in isolation. With ongoing concern about the effects of climate change, using innovative materials to help students understand how Earth's systems connect with each other is…

Great Lakes Instructional Materials for the Changing Earth System: An Earth Systems Education Effort of the Ohio Sea Grant College Program and the Ohio State University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Heidi, Ed.; Sheaffer, Amy, Ed.

This activity book was developed because of the importance of understanding both our water resources and the impact of global change. The materials in this set were designed to use current data and information access skills, offer productive collaboration experiences, and provide critical science decision-making opportunities. Activities are…

Opportunity to Participate in ESSE 21: The 2003 Call for Participation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruzek, M.; Johnson, D. R.

2003-12-01

Earth System Science Education for the 21st Century (ESSE 21), sponsored by NASA through the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), is a collaborative undergraduate/graduate education program offering small grants to colleges and universities to engage a diverse interdisciplinary community of faculty and scientists in the development of courses, curricula and degree programs and sharing of learning resources focused on the fundamental understanding and application of Earth system principles for the classroom and laboratory. Through an expanded focus including partnerships with minority institutions, ESSE 21 is further developing broadly based courses, educational resources, electronic learning materials and degree programs that extend Earth system science concepts in both undergraduate and graduate classrooms and laboratories. These resources emphasizing the fundamentals of Earth system science advance the nation's broader agenda for improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics competency. The thrust to establish Earth system and global change science within the classrooms of colleges and universities is critical to laying and extending the foundation for knowledge-based decision making in the 21st century by both scientists and society in an effort to achieve sustainability. ESSE 21 released a Call for Participation (CFP) in the Fall of 2002 soliciting proposals from undergraduate institutions to create and adopt undergraduate and graduate level Earth system science content in courses, curricula and degree programs. In February 2003, twelve college and university teams were competitively selected through the CFP as the Year 1 and Year 2 Program participants. Eight of the participating teams are from minority institutions. The goal for all is to effect systemic change through developing Earth system science learning materials, courses, curricula, degree tracks or programs, and departments that are self-sustaining in the coming decades. ESSE 21 offers an expanded infrastructure for an interactive community of educators and researchers including minority participants that develops interdisciplinary Earth system science content. Emphasis is on the utilization of NASA resources involving global change data, models, visualizations and electronic media and networks. The ultimate aim of ESSE 21 is to expand and accelerate the nation's realization of sound, scientific interdisciplinary educational resources for informed learning and decision-making by all from the perspective of sustainability of the Earth as a system. The next Call for Participation will be released in late 2003.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collins, William D.; Craig, Anthony P.; Truesdale, John E.

The integrated Earth System Model (iESM) has been developed as a new tool for pro- jecting the joint human/climate system. The iESM is based upon coupling an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) and an Earth System Model (ESM) into a common modeling in- frastructure. IAMs are the primary tool for describing the human–Earth system, including the sources of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) and short-lived species, land use and land cover change, and other resource-related drivers of anthropogenic climate change. ESMs are the primary scientific tools for examining the physical, chemical, and biogeochemical impacts of human-induced changes to the climate system. Themore » iESM project integrates the economic and human dimension modeling of an IAM and a fully coupled ESM within a sin- gle simulation system while maintaining the separability of each model if needed. Both IAM and ESM codes are developed and used by large communities and have been extensively applied in recent national and international climate assessments. By introducing heretofore- omitted feedbacks between natural and societal drivers, we can improve scientific under- standing of the human–Earth system dynamics. Potential applications include studies of the interactions and feedbacks leading to the timing, scale, and geographic distribution of emissions trajectories and other human influences, corresponding climate effects, and the subsequent impacts of a changing climate on human and natural systems. This paper de- scribes the formulation, requirements, implementation, testing, and resulting functionality of the first version of the iESM released to the global climate community.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collins, W. D.; Craig, A. P.; Truesdale, J. E.

The integrated Earth system model (iESM) has been developed as a new tool for projecting the joint human/climate system. The iESM is based upon coupling an integrated assessment model (IAM) and an Earth system model (ESM) into a common modeling infrastructure. IAMs are the primary tool for describing the human–Earth system, including the sources of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) and short-lived species (SLS), land use and land cover change (LULCC), and other resource-related drivers of anthropogenic climate change. ESMs are the primary scientific tools for examining the physical, chemical, and biogeochemical impacts of human-induced changes to the climate system. Themore » iESM project integrates the economic and human-dimension modeling of an IAM and a fully coupled ESM within a single simulation system while maintaining the separability of each model if needed. Both IAM and ESM codes are developed and used by large communities and have been extensively applied in recent national and international climate assessments. By introducing heretofore-omitted feedbacks between natural and societal drivers, we can improve scientific understanding of the human–Earth system dynamics. Potential applications include studies of the interactions and feedbacks leading to the timing, scale, and geographic distribution of emissions trajectories and other human influences, corresponding climate effects, and the subsequent impacts of a changing climate on human and natural systems. This paper describes the formulation, requirements, implementation, testing, and resulting functionality of the first version of the iESM released to the global climate community.« less

The Earth Observing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaffer, Lisa Robock

1992-01-01

The restructuring of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS), designed to provide comprehensive long term observations from space of changes occurring on the Earth from natural and human causes in order to have a sound scientific basis for policy decisions on protection of the future, is reported. In response to several factors, the original program approved in the fiscal year 1991 budget was restructured and somewhat reduced in scope. The resulting program uses three different sized launch vehicles to put six different spacecraft in orbit in the first phase, followed by two replacement launches for each of five of the six satellites to maintain a long term observing capability to meet the needs of global climate change research and other science objectives. The EOS system, including the space observatories, the data and information system, and the interdisciplinary global change research effort, are approved and proceeding. Elements of EOS are already in place, such as the research investigations and initial data system capabilities. The flights of precursor satellite and Shuttle missions, the ongoing data analysis, and the evolutionary enhancements to the integrated Earth science data management capabilities are all important building blocks to the full EOS program.

Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Projects Data and Services at the GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vollmer, Bruce E.; Ostrenga, D.; Savtchenko, A.; Johnson, J.; Wei, J.; Teng, W.; Gerasimov, I.

2011-01-01

NASA's Earth Science Program is dedicated to advancing Earth remote sensing and pioneering the scientific use of satellite measurements to improve human understanding of our home planet. Through the MEaSUREs Program, NASA is continuing its commitment to expand understanding of the Earth system using consistent data records. Emphasis is on linking together multiple data sources to form coherent time-series, and facilitating the use of extensive data in the development of comprehensive Earth system models. A primary focus of the MEaSUREs Program is the creation of Earth System Data Records (ESDRs). An ESDR is defined as a unified and coherent set of observations of a given parameter of the Earth system, which is optimized to meet specific requirements for addressing science questions. These records are critical for understanding Earth System processes; for the assessment of variability, long-term trends, and change in the Earth System; and for providing input and validation means to modeling efforts. Seven MEaSUREs projects will be archived and distributed through services at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).

NASA's Earth Science Flight Program Meets the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ianson, Eric E.

2016-01-01

NASA's Earth science flight program is a dynamic undertaking that consists of a large fleet of operating satellites, an array of satellite and instrument projects in various stages of development, a robust airborne science program, and a massive data archiving and distribution system. Each element of the flight program is complex and present unique challenges. NASA builds upon its successes and learns from its setbacks to manage this evolving portfolio to meet NASA's Earth science objectives. NASA fleet of 16 operating missions provide a wide range of scientific measurements made from dedicated Earth science satellites and from instruments mounted to the International Space Station. For operational missions, the program must address issues such as an aging satellites operating well beyond their prime mission, constellation flying, and collision avoidance with other spacecraft and orbital debris. Projects in development are divided into two broad categories: systematic missions and pathfinders. The Earth Systematic Missions (ESM) include a broad range of multi-disciplinary Earth-observing research satellite missions aimed at understanding the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced forces and changes. Understanding these forces will help determine how to predict future changes, and how to mitigate or adapt to these changes. The Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program provides frequent, regular, competitively selected Earth science research opportunities that accommodate new and emerging scientific priorities and measurement capabilities. This results in a series of relatively low-cost, small-sized investigations and missions. Principal investigators whose scientific objectives support a variety of studies lead these missions, including studies of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar ice regions, or solid Earth. This portfolio of missions and investigations provides opportunity for investment in innovative Earth science that enhances NASA's capability for better understanding the current state of the Earth system. ESM and ESSP projects often involve partnerships with other US agencies and/or international organizations. This adds to the complexity of mission development, but allows for a greater scientific return on NASA's investments. The Earth Science Airborne Science Program provides manned and unmanned aircraft systems that further science and advance the use of satellite data. NASA uses these assets worldwide in campaigns to investigate extreme weather events, observe Earth system processes, obtain data for Earth science modeling activities, and calibrate instruments flying aboard Earth science spacecraft. The Airborne Science Program has six dedicated aircraft and access to many other platforms. The Earth Science Multi-Mission Operations program acquires, preserves, and distributes observational data from operating spacecraft to support Earth Science research focus areas. The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), which has been in operations since 1994, primarily accomplishes this. EOSDIS acquires, processes, archives, and distributes Earth Science data and information products. The archiving of NASA Earth Science information happens at eight Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and four disciplinary data centers located across the United States. The DAACs specialize by topic area, and make their data available to researchers around the world. The DAACs currently house over 9 petabytes of data, growing at a rate of 6.4 terabytes per day. NASA's current Earth Science portfolio is responsive to the National Research Council (NRC) 2007 Earth Science Decadal Survey and well as the 2010 NASA Response to President Obama's Climate Plan. As the program evolves into the future it will leverage the lessons learned from the current missions in operations and development, and plan for adjustments to future objectives in response to the anticipated 2017 NRC Decadal Survey.

A review of the US Global Change Research Program and NASA's Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Berrien, III; Anderson, James G.; Costanza, Robert; Gates, W. Lawrence; Grew, Priscilla C.; Leinen, Margaret S.; Mayewski, Paul A.; McCarthy, James J.; Sellers, Piers J.

1995-01-01

This report reflects the results of a ten-day workshop convened at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography July 19-28, 1995. The workshop was convened as the first phase of a two part review of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The workshop was organized to provide a review of the scientific foundations and progress to date in the USGCRP and an assessment of the implications of new scientific insights for future USGCRP and Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observing System (MTPE/EOS) activities; a review of the role of NASA's MTPE/EOS program in the USGCRP observational strategy; a review of the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) as a component of USGCRP data management activities; and an assessment of whether recent developments in the following areas lead to a need to readjust MTPE/EOS plans. Specific consideration was given to: proposed convergence of U.S. environmental satellite systems and programs, evolving international plans for Earth observation systems, advances in technology, and potential expansion of the role of the private sector. The present report summarizes the findings and recommendations developed by the Committee on Global Change Research on the basis of the presentations, background materials, working group deliberations, and plenary discussions of the workshop. In addition, the appendices include summaries prepared by the six working groups convened in the course of the workshop.

EOSDIS: The Ultimate Earth Science Data Source for Research and Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agbu, P. A.; Chang, C.; Corprew, F. E.

2002-12-01

Today, there is compelling scientific evidence that human activities have attained the magnitude of a geological force and are speeding up the rates of global changes. For example, carbon dioxide levels have risen 30 percent since the industrial revolution and about 40 percent of the world's land surface has been transformed by humans. To assemble long-term information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable forecasting of the causes and effects of climate change, the use of space-based Earth observing platforms is the only feasible way. Consequently, NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) has begun an international study of planet Earth that is comprised of three main components: 1) a series of satellites specially designed to study the complexities of global change; 2) an advanced computer network for processing, storing, and distributing data (EOS Data and Information System); and 3) teams of scientists all over the world who will study the data. Recent launches of Landsat 7 in April 15, 1999 to continue the flow of global change information to users worldwide, and Terra the EOS flagship in December 18, 1999 to monitor climate and environmental change on Earth over the next 15 years, has tremendously expanded the sources of valuable Earth science data for research and education. These data and others from focused campaigns, e.g., FIFE and BOREAS designed to study surface-atmospheric interactions will be presented.

ACCESS Earth: Promoting Accessibility to Earth System Science for Students with Disabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Locke, S. M.; Cohen, L.; Lightbody, N.

2001-05-01

ACCESS Earth is an intensive summer institute for high school students with disabilities and their teachers that is designed to encourage students with disabilities to consider careers in earth system science. Participants study earth system science concepts at a Maine coastal estuary, using Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing, and field observations to evaluate the impacts of climate change, sea level rise, and development on coastal systems. Teachers, students, and scientists work together to adapt field and laboratory activities for persons with disabilities, including those with mobility and visual impairments. Other sessions include demonstrations of assistive technology, career discussions, and opportunities for students to meet with successful scientists with disabilities from throughout the U.S. The summer institute is one of several programs in development at the University of Southern Maine to address the problem of underrepresentation of people with disabilities in the earth sciences. Other projects include a mentoring program for high school students, a web-based clearinghouse of resources for teaching earth sciences to students with disabilities, and guidebooks for adaptation of popular published earth system science curricula for disabled learners.

Low degree Earth's gravity coefficients determined from different space geodetic observations and climate models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wińska, Małgorzata; Nastula, Jolanta

2017-04-01

Large scale mass redistribution and its transport within the Earth system causes changes in the Earth's rotation in space, gravity field and Earth's ellipsoid shape. These changes are observed in the ΔC21, ΔS21, and ΔC20 spherical harmonics gravity coefficients, which are proportional to the mass load-induced Earth rotational excitations. In this study, linear trend, decadal, inter-annual, and seasonal variations of low degree spherical harmonics coefficients of Earth's gravity field, determined from different space geodetic techniques, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), satellite laser ranging (SLR), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Earth rotation, and climate models, are examined. In this way, the contribution of each measurement technique to interpreting the low degree surface mass density of the Earth is shown. Especially, we evaluate an usefulness of several climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) to determine the low degree Earth's gravity coefficients using GRACE satellite observations. To do that, Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) changes from several CMIP5 climate models are determined and then these simulated data are compared with the GRACE observations. Spherical harmonics ΔC21, ΔS21, and ΔC20 changes are calculated as the sum of atmosphere and ocean mass effect (GAC values) taken from GRACE and a land surface hydrological estimate from the selected CMIP5 climate models. Low degree Stokes coefficients of the surface mass density determined from GRACE, SLR, GNSS, Earth rotation measurements and climate models are compared to each other in order to assess their consistency. The comparison is done by using different types of statistical and signal processing methods.

An Analysis of Sources of Technological Change in Efficiency Improvement of Fluorescent Lamp Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imanaka, Takeo

In Japan, energy efficient fluorescent lamp systems which use “rare-earth phosphors” and “electronic ballasts” have shown rapid diffusion since 1990s. This report investigated sources of technological change in the efficiency improvement of fluorescent lamp systems: (i) Fluorescent lamp and luminaires have been under steady technological development for getting more energy efficient lighting and the concepts to achieve high efficiency had been found in such activities; however, it took long time until they realized and become widely used; (ii) Electronic ballasts and rare-earth phosphors add fluorescent lamp systems not only energy efficiency but also various values such as compactness, lightweight, higher output, and better color rendering properties, which have also been expected and have induced research and development (R&D) (iii) Affordable electronic ballasts are realized by the new technology “power MOSFET” which is based on IC technologies and has been developed for large markets of information and communication technologies and mobile devices; and (iv) Rare-earth phosphors became available after rare-earth industries developed for the purpose of supplying rare-earth phosphors for color television. In terms of sources of technological change, (i) corresponds to “R&D” aiming at the particular purpose i.e. energy efficiency in this case, on the other hand, (ii), (iii), and (iv) correspond to “spillovers” from activities aiming at other purposes. This case exhibits an actual example in which “spillovers” were the critical sources of technological change in energy technology.

Variance decomposition shows the importance of human-climate feedbacks in the Earth system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calvin, K. V.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Jones, A. D.; Shi, X.; Di Vittorio, A. V.; Thornton, P. E.

2017-12-01

The human and Earth systems are intricately linked: climate influences agricultural production, renewable energy potential, and water availability, for example, while anthropogenic emissions from industry and land use change alter temperature and precipitation. Such feedbacks have the potential to significantly alter future climate change. Current climate change projections contain significant uncertainties, however, and because Earth System Models do not generally include dynamic human (demography, economy, energy, water, land use) components, little is known about how climate feedbacks contribute to that uncertainty. Here we use variance decomposition of a novel coupled human-earth system model to show that the influence of human-climate feedbacks can be as large as 17% of the total variance in the near term for global mean temperature rise, and 11% in the long term for cropland area. The near-term contribution of energy and land use feedbacks to the climate on global mean temperature rise is as large as that from model internal variability, a factor typically considered in modeling studies. Conversely, the contribution of climate feedbacks to cropland extent, while non-negligible, is less than that from socioeconomics, policy, or model. Previous assessments have largely excluded these feedbacks, with the climate community focusing on uncertainty due to internal variability, scenario, and model and the integrated assessment community focusing on uncertainty due to socioeconomics, technology, policy, and model. Our results set the stage for a new generation of models and hypothesis testing to determine when and how bidirectional feedbacks between human and Earth systems should be considered in future assessments of climate change.

Chapter 15: Potential Surprises: Compound Extremes and Tipping Elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kopp, R. E.; Hayhoe, K.; Easterling, D. R.; Hall, T.; Horton, R.; Kunkel, K. E.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-01-01

The Earth system is made up of many components that interact in complex ways across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. As a result of these interactions the behavior of the system cannot be predicted by looking at individual components in isolation. Negative feedbacks, or self-stabilizing cycles, within and between components of the Earth system can dampen changes (Ch. 2: Physical Drivers of Climate Change). However, their stabilizing effects render such feedbacks of less concern from a risk perspective than positive feedbacks, or self-reinforcing cycles. Positive feedbacks magnify both natural and anthropogenic changes. Some Earth system components, such as arctic sea ice and the polar ice sheets, may exhibit thresholds beyond which these self-reinforcing cycles can drive the component, or the entire system, into a radically different state. Although the probabilities of these state shifts may be difficult to assess, their consequences could be high, potentially exceeding anything anticipated by climate model projections for the coming century.

Re-Examining the Way We Teach: The Earth System Science Education Alliance Online Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botti, J. A.; Myers, R. J.

2003-12-01

Science education reform has skyrocketed over the last decade thanks in large part to the technology of the Internet, opening up dynamic new online communities of learners. It has allowed educators worldwide to share thoughts about Earth system science and reexamine the way science is taught. The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) is one positive offshoot of this reform effort. This developing partnership among universities, colleges, and science education organizations is led by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the Center for Educational TechnologiesTM at Wheeling Jesuit University. ESSEA's mission is to improve Earth system science education. ESSEA has developed three Earth system science courses for K-12 teachers. These online courses guide teachers into collaborative, student-centered science education experiences. Not only do these courses support teachers' professional development, they also help teachers implement Earth systems science content and age-appropriate pedagogical methods into their classrooms. The ESSEA semester-long courses are open to elementary, middle school, and high school educators. After three weeks of introductory content, teachers develop content and pedagogical and technological knowledge in four three-week learning cycles. The elementary school course focuses on basic Earth system interactions between land, life, air, and water. The middle school course stresses the effects of real-world events-volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, rainforest destruction-on Earth's lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, using "jigsaw" to study the interactions between events, spheres, and positive and negative feedback loops. The high school course uses problem-based learning to examine critical areas of global change, such as coral reef degradation, ozone depletion, and climate change. This ESSEA presentation provides examples of learning environments from each of the three courses.

A Novel Approach to Teaching and Understanding Transformations of Matter in Dynamic Earth Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Scott K.; Sibley, Duncan F.; Libarkin, Julie C.; Heidemann, Merle

2009-01-01

The need to engage K-12 and post-secondary students in considering the Earth as a dynamic system requires explicit discussion of system characteristics. Fundamentally, dynamic systems involve the movement and change of matter, often through processes that are difficult to see and comprehend. We introduce a novel instructional method, termed…

Satellite and earth science data management activities at the U.S. geological survey's EROS data center

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carneggie, David M.; Metz, Gary G.; Draeger, William C.; Thompson, Ralph J.

1991-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center, the national archive for Landsat data, has 20 years of experience in acquiring, archiving, processing, and distributing Landsat and earth science data. The Center is expanding its satellite and earth science data management activities to support the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System Program. The Center's current and future data management activities focus on land data and include: satellite and earth science data set acquisition, development and archiving; data set preservation, maintenance and conversion to more durable and accessible archive medium; development of an advanced Land Data Information System; development of enhanced data packaging and distribution mechanisms; and data processing, reprocessing, and product generation systems.

Anthropogenic biomes: a key contribution to earth-system science

Treesearch

Lilian Alessa; F. Stuart Chapin

2008-01-01

Human activities now dominate most of the ice-free terrestrial surface. A recent article presents a classification and global map of human-influenced biomes of the world that provides a novel and potentially appropriate framework for projecting changes in earth-system dynamics.

Spatial nonlinearities: Cascading effects in the earth system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peters, Debra P.C.; Pielke, R.A.; Bestelmeyer, B.T.; Allen, Craig D.; Munson-McGee, Stuart; Havstad, K. M.; Canadell, Josep G.; Pataki, Diane E.; Pitelka, Louis F.

2006-01-01

Nonlinear behavior is prevalent in all aspects of the Earth System, including ecological responses to global change (Gallagher and Appenzeller 1999; Steffen et al. 2004). Nonlinear behavior refers to a large, discontinuous change in response to a small change in a driving variable (Rial et al. 2004). In contrast to linear systems where responses are smooth, well-behaved, continuous functions, nonlinear systems often undergo sharp or discontinuous transitions resulting from the crossing of thresholds. These nonlinear responses can result in surprising behavior that makes forecasting difficult (Kaplan and Glass 1995). Given that many system dynamics are nonlinear, it is imperative that conceptual and quantitative tools be developed to increase our understanding of the processes leading to nonlinear behavior in order to determine if forecasting can be improved under future environmental changes (Clark et al. 2001).

Chemical Mechanisms and Their Applications in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Earth System Model.

PubMed

Nielsen, J Eric; Pawson, Steven; Molod, Andrea; Auer, Benjamin; da Silva, Arlindo M; Douglass, Anne R; Duncan, Bryan; Liang, Qing; Manyin, Michael; Oman, Luke D; Putman, William; Strahan, Susan E; Wargan, Krzysztof

2017-12-01

NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Earth System Model (ESM) is a modular, general circulation model (GCM), and data assimilation system (DAS) that is used to simulate and study the coupled dynamics, physics, chemistry, and biology of our planet. GEOS is developed by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It generates near-real-time analyzed data products, reanalyses, and weather and seasonal forecasts to support research targeted to understanding interactions among Earth System processes. For chemistry, our efforts are focused on ozone and its influence on the state of the atmosphere and oceans, and on trace gas data assimilation and global forecasting at mesoscale discretization. Several chemistry and aerosol modules are coupled to the GCM, which enables GEOS to address topics pertinent to NASA's Earth Science Mission. This paper describes the atmospheric chemistry components of GEOS and provides an overview of its Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF)-based software infrastructure, which promotes a rich spectrum of feedbacks that influence circulation and climate, and impact human and ecosystem health. We detail how GEOS allows model users to select chemical mechanisms and emission scenarios at run time, establish the extent to which the aerosol and chemical components communicate, and decide whether either or both influence the radiative transfer calculations. A variety of resolutions facilitates research on spatial and temporal scales relevant to problems ranging from hourly changes in air quality to trace gas trends in a changing climate. Samples of recent GEOS chemistry applications are provided.

Chemical Mechanisms and Their Applications in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Earth System Model

PubMed Central

Pawson, Steven; Molod, Andrea; Auer, Benjamin; da Silva, Arlindo M.; Douglass, Anne R.; Duncan, Bryan; Liang, Qing; Manyin, Michael; Oman, Luke D.; Putman, William; Strahan, Susan E.; Wargan, Krzysztof

2017-01-01

Abstract NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Earth System Model (ESM) is a modular, general circulation model (GCM), and data assimilation system (DAS) that is used to simulate and study the coupled dynamics, physics, chemistry, and biology of our planet. GEOS is developed by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It generates near‐real‐time analyzed data products, reanalyses, and weather and seasonal forecasts to support research targeted to understanding interactions among Earth System processes. For chemistry, our efforts are focused on ozone and its influence on the state of the atmosphere and oceans, and on trace gas data assimilation and global forecasting at mesoscale discretization. Several chemistry and aerosol modules are coupled to the GCM, which enables GEOS to address topics pertinent to NASA's Earth Science Mission. This paper describes the atmospheric chemistry components of GEOS and provides an overview of its Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF)‐based software infrastructure, which promotes a rich spectrum of feedbacks that influence circulation and climate, and impact human and ecosystem health. We detail how GEOS allows model users to select chemical mechanisms and emission scenarios at run time, establish the extent to which the aerosol and chemical components communicate, and decide whether either or both influence the radiative transfer calculations. A variety of resolutions facilitates research on spatial and temporal scales relevant to problems ranging from hourly changes in air quality to trace gas trends in a changing climate. Samples of recent GEOS chemistry applications are provided. PMID:29497478

Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Motesharrei, Safa; Rivas, Jorge; Kalnay, Eugenia; Asrar, Ghassem R.; Busalacchi, Antonio J.; Cahalan, Robert F.; Cane, Mark A.; Colwell, Rita R.; Feng, Kuishuang; Franklin, Rachel S.;

Teaching Earth Signals Analysis Using the Java-DSP Earth Systems Edition: Modern and Past Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramamurthy, Karthikeyan Natesan; Hinnov, Linda A.; Spanias, Andreas S.

2014-01-01

Modern data collection in the Earth Sciences has propelled the need for understanding signal processing and time-series analysis techniques. However, there is an educational disconnect in the lack of instruction of time-series analysis techniques in many Earth Science academic departments. Furthermore, there are no platform-independent freeware…

Global analysis of river systems: from Earth system controls to Anthropocene syndromes.

PubMed Central

Meybeck, Michel

2003-01-01

Continental aquatic systems from rivers to the coastal zone are considered within two perspectives: (i) as a major link between the atmosphere, pedosphere, biosphere and oceans within the Earth system with its Holocene dynamics, and (ii) as water and aquatic biota resources progressively used and transformed by humans. Human pressures have now reached a state where the continental aquatic systems can no longer be considered as being controlled by only Earth system processes, thus defining a new era, the Anthropocene. Riverine changes, now observed at the global scale, are described through a first set of syndromes (flood regulation, fragmentation, sediment imbalance, neo-arheism, salinization, chemical contamination, acidification, eutrophication and microbial contamination) with their related causes and symptoms. These syndromes have direct influences on water uses, either positive or negative. They also modify some Earth system key functions such as sediment, water, nutrient and carbon balances, greenhouse gas emissions and aquatic biodiversity. Evolution of river syndromes over the past 2000 years is complex: it depends upon the stages of regional human development and on natural conditions, as illustrated here for the chemical contamination syndrome. River damming, eutrophication and generalized decrease of river flow due to irrigation are some of the other global features of river changes. Future management of river systems should also consider these long-term impacts on the Earth system. PMID:14728790

NASA's Earth science flight program status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.; Volz, Stephen M.

2010-10-01

NASA's strategic goal to "advance scientific understanding of the changing Earth system to meet societal needs" continues the agency's legacy of expanding human knowledge of the Earth through space activities, as mandated by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. Over the past 50 years, NASA has been the world leader in developing space-based Earth observing systems and capabilities that have fundamentally changed our view of our planet and have defined Earth system science. The U.S. National Research Council report "Earth Observations from Space: The First 50 Years of Scientific Achievements" published in 2008 by the National Academy of Sciences articulates those key achievements and the evolution of the space observing capabilities, looking forward to growing potential to address Earth science questions and enable an abundance of practical applications. NASA's Earth science program is an end-to-end one that encompasses the development of observational techniques and the instrument technology needed to implement them. This includes laboratory testing and demonstration from surface, airborne, or space-based platforms; research to increase basic process knowledge; incorporation of results into complex computational models to more fully characterize the present state and future evolution of the Earth system; and development of partnerships with national and international organizations that can use the generated information in environmental forecasting and in policy, business, and management decisions. Currently, NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) has 14 operating Earth science space missions with 6 in development and 18 under study or in technology risk reduction. Two Tier 2 Decadal Survey climate-focused missions, Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days and Seasons (ASCENDS) and Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), have been identified in conjunction with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and initiated for launch in the 2019-2020 timeframe. NASA will begin refurbishment of the SAGE III atmospheric chemistry instrument to be hosted by the International Space Station (ISS) as early as 2013 and will initiate a Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Follow-on mission for launch in 2016.

Asteroid impacts on terrestrial planets: the effects of super-Earths and the role of the ν6 resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smallwood, Jeremy L.; Martin, Rebecca G.; Lepp, Stephen; Livio, Mario

2018-01-01

With N-body simulations of a planetary system with an asteroid belt, we investigate how the asteroid impact rate on the Earth is affected by the architecture of the planetary system. We find that the ν6 secular resonance plays an important role in the asteroid collision rate with the Earth. Compared to exoplanetary systems, the Solar system is somewhat special in its lack of a super-Earth mass planet in the inner Solar system. We therefore first consider the effects of the presence of a super-Earth in the terrestrial planet region. We find a significant effect for super-Earths with a mass of around 10 M⊕ and a separation greater than about 0.7 au. For a super-Earth which is interior to the Earth's orbit, the number of asteroids colliding with Earth increases the closer the super-Earth is to the Earth's orbit. This is the result of multiple secular resonance locations causing more asteroids to be perturbed on to Earth-crossing orbits. When the super-Earth is placed exterior to Earth's orbit, the collision rate decreases substantially because the ν6 resonance no longer exists in the asteroid belt region. We also find that changing the semimajor axis of Saturn leads to a significant decrease in the asteroid collision rate, though increasing its mass increases the collision rate. These results may have implications for the habitability of exoplanetary systems.

Earth radiation balance and climate: Why the Moon is the wrong place to observe the Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kandel, Robert S.

1994-06-01

Increasing 'greenhouse' gases in the Earth's atmosphere will perturb the Earth's radiation balance, forcing climate change over coming decades. Climate sensitivity depends critically on cloud-radiation feedback: its evaluation requires continual observation of changing patterns of Earth radiation balance and cloud cover. The Moon is the wrong place for such observations, with many disadvantages compared to an observation system combining platforms in low polar, intermediate-inclination and geostationary orbits. From the Moon, active observations are infeasible; thermal infrared observations require very large instruments to reach spatial resolutions obtained at much lower cost from geostationary or lower orbits. The Earth's polar zones are never well observed from the Moon; other zones are invisible more than half the time. The monthly illumination cycle leads to further bias in radiation budget determinations. The Earth will be a pretty sight from the Earth-side of the Moon, but serious Earth observations will be made elsewhere.

Earth and Space Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meeson, Blanche W.

1999-01-01

Workshop for middle and high school teachers to enhance their knowledge of the Earth as a system. NASA data and materials developed by teachers (all available via the Internet) will be used to engage participants in hands-on, investigative approaches to the Earth system. All materials are ready to be applied in pre-college classrooms. Remotely-sensed data will be used in combination with familiar resources, such as maps, to examine global climate change.

Watershed scale response to climate change--Black Earth Creek Basin, Wisconsin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hunt, Randall J.; Walker, John F.; Westenbroek, Steven M.; Hay, Lauren E.; Markstrom, Steven L.

2012-01-01

Fourteen basins for which the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System has been calibrated and evaluated were selected as study sites. Precipitation Runoff Modeling System is a deterministic, distributed parameter watershed model developed to evaluate the effects of various combinations of precipitation, temperature, and land use on streamflow and general basin hydrology. Output from five General Circulation Model simulations and four emission scenarios were used to develop an ensemble of climate-change scenarios for each basin. These ensembles were simulated with the corresponding Precipitation Runoff Modeling System model. This fact sheet summarizes the hydrologic effect and sensitivity of the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System simulations to climate change for the Black Earth Creek Basin, Wisconsin.

Approaches for Improving Earth System Science Education in Middle Schools and High Schools in the United States (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, P. E.

2009-12-01

Earth system science is an often neglected subject in the US science curriculum. The state of Kansas State Department of Education, for example, has provided teachers with a curriculum guide for incorporating earth system science as an ancillary topic within the subjects of physics, chemistry, and the biological sciences. While this does provide a means to have earth system science within the curriculum, it relegates earth system science topics to a secondary status. In practice, earth system science topics are considered optional or only taught if there is time within an already an overly crowded curriculum. Given the importance of developing an educated citizenry that is capable of understanding, coping, and deciding how to live in a world where climate change is a reality requires a deeper understanding of earth system science. The de-emphasis of earth system science in favor of other science disciplines makes it imperative to seek opportunities to provide teachers, whose primary subject is not earth system science, with professional development opportunities to develop content knowledge understanding of earth system science, and pedagogical content knowledge (i.e. effective strategies for teaching earth system science). This is a noble goal, but there is no single method. At Fort Hays State University we have developed multiple strategies from face-to-face workshops, on-line coursework, and academic year virtual and face-to-face consultations with in-service and pre-service teachers. A review of the techniques and measures of effectiveness (based on teacher and student performance), and strengths and limitations of each method will be presented as an aid to other institutions and programs seeking to improve the teaching and learning of earth system science in their region.

Climate Science: How Earth System Models are Reshaping the Science Policy Interface.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruane, Alex

2015-01-01

This talk is oriented at a general audience including the largest French utility company, and will describe the basics of climate change before moving into emissions scenarios and agricultural impacts that we can test with our earth system models and impacts models.

Testing Anthropic Selection: A Climate Change Example

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Abstract Planetary anthropic selection, the idea that Earth has unusual properties since, otherwise, we would not be here to observe it, is a controversial idea. This paper proposes a methodology by which to test anthropic proposals by comparison of Earth to synthetic populations of Earth-like planets. The paper illustrates this approach by investigating possible anthropic selection for high (or low) rates of Milankovitch-driven climate change. Three separate tests are investigated: (1) Earth-Moon properties and their effect on obliquity; (2) Individual planet locations and their effect on eccentricity variation; (3) The overall structure of the Solar System and its effect on eccentricity variation. In all three cases, the actual Earth/Solar System has unusually low Milankovitch frequencies compared to similar alternative systems. All three results are statistically significant at the 5% or better level, and the probability of all three occurring by chance is less than 10−5. It therefore appears that there has been anthropic selection for slow Milankovitch cycles. This implies possible selection for a stable climate, which, if true, undermines the Gaia hypothesis and also suggests that planets with Earth-like levels of biodiversity are likely to be very rare. Key Words: Planetary habitability and biosignatures—Intelligence—Paleoenvironment and paleoclimate—Co-evolution of Earth and life—Complex life. Astrobiology 11, 105–114. PMID:21401338

ECHO Responds to NASA's Earth Science User Community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pfister, Robin; Ullman, Richard; Wichmann, Keith; Perkins, Dorothy C. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Over the past decade NASA has designed, built, evolved, and operated the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Information Management System (IMS) in order to provide user access to NASA's Earth Science data holdings. During this time revolutionary advances in technology have driven changes in NASA's approach to providing an IMS service. This paper will describe NASA's strategic planning and approach to build and evolve the EOSDIS IMS and to serve the evolving needs of NASA's Earth Science community. It discusses the original strategic plan and how lessons learned help to form a new plan, a new approach and a new system. It discusses the original technologies and how they have evolved to today.

Testing anthropic selection: a climate change example.

PubMed

Waltham, Dave

2011-03-01

Planetary anthropic selection, the idea that Earth has unusual properties since, otherwise, we would not be here to observe it, is a controversial idea. This paper proposes a methodology by which to test anthropic proposals by comparison of Earth to synthetic populations of Earth-like planets. The paper illustrates this approach by investigating possible anthropic selection for high (or low) rates of Milankovitch-driven climate change. Three separate tests are investigated: (1) Earth-Moon properties and their effect on obliquity; (2) Individual planet locations and their effect on eccentricity variation; (3) The overall structure of the Solar System and its effect on eccentricity variation. In all three cases, the actual Earth/Solar System has unusually low Milankovitch frequencies compared to similar alternative systems. All three results are statistically significant at the 5% or better level, and the probability of all three occurring by chance is less than 10(-5). It therefore appears that there has been anthropic selection for slow Milankovitch cycles. This implies possible selection for a stable climate, which, if true, undermines the Gaia hypothesis and also suggests that planets with Earth-like levels of biodiversity are likely to be very rare. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System - EOSDIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram K.

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the work of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), a petabyte-scale archive of environmental data that supports global climate change research. The Earth Science Data Systems provide end-to-end capabilities to deliver data and information products to users in support of understanding the Earth system. The presentation contains photographs from space of recent events, (i.e., the effects of the tsunami in Japan, and the wildfires in Australia.) It also includes details of the Data Centers that provide the data to EOSDIS and Science Investigator-led Processing Systems. Information about the Land, Atmosphere Near-real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) and some of the uses that the system has made possible are reviewed. Also included is information about how to access the data, and evolutionary plans for the future of the system.

[Activities of Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, Maryland University

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is recognized as a world leader in the application of remote sensing and modeling aimed at improving knowledge of the Earth system. The Goddard Earth Sciences Directorate plays a central role in NASA's Earth Observing System and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology (GEST) is organized as a cooperative agreement with the GSFC to promote excellence in the Earth sciences, and is a consortium of universities and corporations (University of Maryland Baltimore County, Howard University, Hampton University, Caelum Research Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation). The aim of this new program is to attract and introduce promising students in their first or second year of graduate studies to Oceanography and Earth system science career options through hands-on instrumentation research experiences on coastal processes at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

JPSS-1 Data and the EOSDIS System: It's seamless

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, A.; Behnke, J.; Ho, E.

2017-12-01

The continuity of climate and environmental data is the key to the NASA Earth science program to develop a scientific understanding of Earth's system and its response to changes. NASA has made a long-term investment in processing, archiving and distributing Earth science data through the Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS). The use of the EOSDIS infrastructure and services provides seamless integration of Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and future Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) products as it does for the entire NASA Earth Science data collection. This continuity of measurements from all the missions is supported by the use of common data structures and standards in the generation of products and the subsequent services, tools and access to those products. Similar to EOS missions, 5 Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS) were established for SNPP: Land, Ocean, Atmosphere, Ozone, and Sounder along with NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System and Ozone Mapper/Profiler Suite Limb systems now produce the NASA SNPP standard Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 products developed by the NASA science teams.

CHANGE: Anthropogenic change through the eyes of a child

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerlow, Isaac

2017-04-01

Constant change is a natural part of Earth's life, and its interconnected systems can easily adapt to slow change. But life is at risk when the natural balance gets disrupted by rapid change. This presentation focuses on the interdisciplinary development and production of CHANGE, a short animated film that shows how human growth and prosperity have changed Planet Earth. The film presents the essence of anthropogenic climate change as seen through the eyes of a pre-teen child. Watch the official trailer here: https://vimeo.com/187618128

What Makes Earth and Space Science Sexy? A Model for Developing Systemic Change in Earth and Space Systems Science Curriculum and Instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slutskin, R. L.

2001-12-01

Earth and Space Science may be the neglected child in the family of high school sciences. In this session, we examine the strategies that Anne Arundel County Public Schools and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center used to develop a dynamic and highly engaging program which follows the vision of the National Science Education Standards, is grounded in key concepts of NASA's Earth Science Directorate, and allows students to examine and apply the current research of NASA scientists. Find out why Earth/Space Systems Science seems to have usurped biology and has made students, principals, and teachers clamor for similar instructional practices in what is traditionally thought of as the "glamorous" course.

Joint Interdisciplinary Earth Science Information Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kafatos, Menas

2004-01-01

The report spans the three year period beginning in June of 2001 and ending June of 2004. Joint Interdisciplinary Earth Science Information Center's (JIESIC) primary purpose has been to carry out research in support of the Global Change Data Center and other Earth science laboratories at Goddard involved in Earth science, remote sensing and applications data and information services. The purpose is to extend the usage of NASA Earth Observing System data, microwave data and other Earth observing data. JIESIC projects fall within the following categories: research and development; STW and WW prototyping; science data, information products and services; and science algorithm support. JIESIC facilitates extending the utility of NASA's Earth System Enterprise (ESE) data, information products and services to better meet the science data and information needs of a number of science and applications user communities, including domain users such as discipline Earth scientists, interdisciplinary Earth scientists, Earth science applications users and educators.

Visualizing global change: earth and biodiversity sciences for museum settings using HDTV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duba, A.; Gardiner, N.; Kinzler, R.; Trakinski, V.

2006-12-01

Science Bulletins, a production group at the American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA), brings biological and Earth system science data and concepts to over 10 million visitors per year at 27 institutions around the U.S.A. Our target audience is diverse, from novice to expert. News stories and visualizations use the capabilities of satellite imagery to focus public attention on four general themes: human influences on species and ecosystems across all observable spatial extents; biotic feedbacks with the Earth's physical system; characterizing species and ecosystems; and recent events such as natural changes to ecosystems, major findings and publications, or recent syntheses. For Earth science, we use recent natural events to explain the broad scientific concepts of tectonic activity and the processes that underlie climate and weather events. Visualizations show the global, dynamic distribution of atmospheric constituents, ocean temperature and temperature anomaly, and sea ice. Long-term changes are set in contrast to seasonal and longer-term cycles so that viewers appreciate the variety of forces that affect Earth's physical system. We illustrate concepts at a level appropriate for a broad audience to learn more about the dynamic nature of Earth's biota and physical processes. Programming also includes feature stories that explain global change phenomena from the perspectives of eminent scientists and managers charged with implementing public policy based on the best available science. Over the past two and one-half years, biological science stories have highlighted applied research addressing lemur conservation in Madagascar, marine protected areas in the Bahamas, effects of urban sprawl on wood turtles in New England, and taxonomic surveys of marine jellies in Monterey Bay. Earth science stories have addressed the volcanic history of present-day Yellowstone National Park, tsunamis, the disappearance of tropical mountain glaciers, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and the oxygenation of the atmosphere. All of these visualizations and HD videos are accessible via the worldwide web with accompanying explanatory material. Periodic surveys of visitors indicate that these media are popular and are effective at communicating important biological and Earth system science concepts to the general public.

Determination of crustal motions using satellite laser ranging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Satellite laser ranging has matured over the last decade into one of the essential space geodesy techniques. It has demonstrated centimeter site positioning and millimeter per year velocity determinations in a frame tied dynamically to the mass center of the solid Earth hydrosphere atmosphere system. Such a coordinate system is a requirement for studying long term eustatic sea level rise and other global change phenomena. Earth orientation parameters determined with the coordinate system have been produced in near real time operationally since 1983, at a relatively modest cost. The SLR ranging to Lageos has also provided a rich spectrum of results based upon the analysis of Lageos orbital dynamics. These include significant improvements in the knowledge of the mean and variable components of the Earth's gravity field and the Earth's gravitational parameter. The ability to measure the time variations of the Earth's gravity field has opened as exciting area of study in relating global processes, including meteorologically derived mass transport through changes in the satellite dynamics. New confirmation of general relativity was obtained using the Lageos SLR data.

The Global Geodetic Observing System: Recent Activities and Accomplishments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gross, R. S.

2017-12-01

The Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) provides the basis on which future advances in geosciences can be built. By considering the Earth system as a whole (including the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere and biosphere), monitoring Earth system components and their interactions by geodetic techniques and studying them from the geodetic point of view, the geodetic community provides the global geosciences community with a powerful tool consisting mainly of high-quality services, standards and references, and theoretical and observational innovations. The mission of GGOS is: (a) to provide the observations needed to monitor, map and understand changes in the Earth's shape, rotation and mass distribution; (b) to provide the global frame of reference that is the fundamental backbone for measuring and consistently interpreting key global change processes and for many other scientific and societal applications; and (c) to benefit science and society by providing the foundation upon which advances in Earth and planetary system science and applications are built. The goals of GGOS are: (1) to be the primary source for all global geodetic information and expertise serving society and Earth system science; (2) to actively promote, sustain, improve, and evolve the integrated global geodetic infrastructure needed to meet Earth science and societal requirements; (3) to coordinate with the international geodetic services that are the main source of key parameters and products needed to realize a stable global frame of reference and to observe and study changes in the dynamic Earth system; (4) to communicate and advocate the benefits of GGOS to user communities, policy makers, funding organizations, and society. In order to accomplish its mission and goals, GGOS depends on the IAG Services, Commissions, and Inter-Commission Committees. The Services provide the infrastructure and products on which all contributions of GGOS are based. The IAG Commissions and Inter-Commission Committees provide expertise and support for the scientific development within GGOS. In summary, GGOS is IAG's central interface to the scientific community and to society in general. Recent activities and accomplishments of the Global Geodetic Observing System will be presented.

Simulating the Earth System Response to Negative Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, R. B.; Milne, J.; Littleton, E. W.; Jones, C.; Canadell, J.; Peters, G. P.; van Vuuren, D.; Davis, S. J.; Jonas, M.; Smith, P.; Ciais, P.; Rogelj, J.; Torvanger, A.; Shrestha, G.

2016-12-01

The natural carbon sinks of the land and oceans absorb approximately half the anthropogenic CO2 emitted every year. The CO2 that is not absorbed accumulates in the Earth's atmosphere and traps the suns rays causing an increase in the global mean temperature. Removing this left over CO2 using negative emissions technologies (NETs) has been proposed as a strategy to lessen the accumulating CO2 and avoid dangerous climate change. Using CMIP5 Earth system model simulations this study assessed the impact on the global carbon cycle, and how the Earth system might respond, to negative emissions strategies applied to low emissions scenarios, over different times horizons from the year 2000 to 2300. The modeling results suggest that using NETs to remove atmospheric CO2 over five 50-year time horizons has varying effects at different points in time. The effects of anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks, can result in positive or negative changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Results show that historic emissions and the current state of the Earth System have impacts on the behavior of atmospheric CO2, as do instantaneous anthropogenic emissions. Indeed, varying background scenarios seemed to have a greater effect on atmospheric CO2 than the actual amount and timing of NETs. These results show how NETs interact with the physical climate-carbon cycle system and highlight the need for more research on earth-system dynamics as they relate to carbon sinks and sources and anthropogenic perturbations.

Life in the Aftermath of Mass Extinctions.

PubMed

Hull, Pincelli

2015-10-05

The vast majority of species that have ever lived went extinct sometime other than during one of the great mass extinction events. In spite of this, mass extinctions are thought to have outsized effects on the evolutionary history of life. While part of this effect is certainly due to the extinction itself, I here consider how the aftermaths of mass extinctions might contribute to the evolutionary importance of such events. Following the mass loss of taxa from the fossil record are prolonged intervals of ecological upheaval that create a selective regime unique to those times. The pacing and duration of ecosystem change during extinction aftermaths suggests strong ties between the biosphere and geosphere, and a previously undescribed macroevolutionary driver - earth system succession. Earth system succession occurs when global environmental or biotic change, as occurs across extinction boundaries, pushes the biosphere and geosphere out of equilibrium. As species and ecosystems re-evolve in the aftermath, they change global biogeochemical cycles - and in turn, species and ecosystems - over timescales typical of the geosphere, often many thousands to millions of years. Earth system succession provides a general explanation for the pattern and timing of ecological and evolutionary change in the fossil record. Importantly, it also suggests that a speed limit might exist for the pace of global biotic change after massive disturbance - a limit set by geosphere-biosphere interactions. For mass extinctions, earth system succession may drive the ever-changing ecological stage on which species evolve, restructuring ecosystems and setting long-term evolutionary trajectories as they do. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social-Ecological Controls Over Earth-System Stewardship: a Framework for Sustainability in a Rapidly Changing World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapin, F. S.; Power, M. E.; Pickett, S.; Jackson, R. B.; Carter, D.; Harden, J. W.

2010-12-01

Human actions are having large and accelerating effects on Earth’s climate, environment, and ecosystems, thereby degrading ecosystem services required by society. This unsustainable trajectory demands a dramatic change in the relationship of humans with the environment and life-support systems of the planet. Earth-system stewardship is an action-oriented framework intended to foster social-ecological sustainability of a rapidly changing world. This builds on problem-relevant research about the social-ecological interactions that drive earth-system change. These include spiraling consumption in developed nations and the broadening gap between the livelihoods of rich and poor people within and among countries. Science that contributes effectively to reversing these trends requires an ongoing dialogue between scientists and users at multiple scales, communicated with sensitivity to social and cultural norms. Such science must motivate behavioral change and deliver information that is perceived as objective, timely, and useful to problem-solving. Recent developments identify four strategies that use current understanding in an environment of inevitable uncertainty and abrupt change: (1) reducing the magnitude of, and exposure and sensitivity to, known stresses; (2) focusing on proactive policies that shape change; and (3) avoiding or escaping unsustainable social-ecological traps. All social-ecological systems are vulnerable to change but have sources of adaptive capacity and resilience that can sustain ecosystem services and human well-being. Discovering and nurturing these sources of adaptive capacity requires, and defines active ecosystem stewardship.

BioMon: A Google Earth Based Continuous Biomass Monitoring System (Demo Paper)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vatsavai, Raju

2009-01-01

We demonstrate a Google Earth based novel visualization system for continuous monitoring of biomass at regional and global scales. This system is integrated with a back-end spatiotemporal data mining system that continuously detects changes using high temporal resolution MODIS images. In addition to the visualization, we demonstrate novel query features of the system that provides insights into the current conditions of the landscape.

NASA's Earth Science Research and Environmental Predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilsenrath, E.

2004-01-01

NASA Earth Science program began in the 1960s with cloud imaging satellites used for weather observations. A fleet of satellites are now in orbit to investigate the Earth Science System to uncover the connections between land, Oceans and the atmosphere. Satellite systems using an array of active and passive remote sensors are used to search for answers on how is the Earth changing and what are the consequences for life on Earth? The answer to these questions can be used for applications to serve societal needs and contribute to decision support systems for weather, hazard, and air quality predictions and mitigation of adverse effects. Partnerships with operational agencies using NASA's observational capabilities are now being explored. The system of the future will require new technology, data assimilation systems which includes data and models that will be used for forecasts that respond to user needs.

Lessons Learned While Exploring Cloud-Native Architectures for NASA EOSDIS Applications and Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pilone, Dan; Mclaughlin, Brett; Plofchan, Peter

2017-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is a coordinated series of satellites for long term global observations. NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a multi-petabyte-scale archive of environmental data that supports global climate change research by providing end-to-end services from EOS instrument data collection to science data processing to full access to EOS and other earth science data. On a daily basis, the EOSDIS ingests, processes, archives and distributes over 3 terabytes of data from NASA's Earth Science missions representing over 6000 data products ranging from various types of science disciplines. EOSDIS has continually evolved to improve the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of high-impact NASA data spanning the multi-petabyte-scale archive of Earth science data products. Reviewed and approved by Chris Lynnes.

A Generalized Stability Analysis of the AMOC in Earth System Models: Implication for Decadal Variability and Abrupt Climate Change

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fedorov, Alexey V.

2015-01-14

The central goal of this research project was to understand the mechanisms of decadal and multi-decadal variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) as related to climate variability and abrupt climate change within a hierarchy of climate models ranging from realistic ocean models to comprehensive Earth system models. Generalized Stability Analysis, a method that quantifies the transient and asymptotic growth of perturbations in the system, is one of the main approaches used throughout this project. The topics we have explored range from physical mechanisms that control AMOC variability to the factors that determine AMOC predictability in the Earth systemmore » models, to the stability and variability of the AMOC in past climates.« less

Model Meets Data: Challenges and Opportunities to Implement Land Management in Earth System Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pongratz, J.; Dolman, A. J.; Don, A.; Erb, K. H.; Fuchs, R.; Herold, M.; Jones, C.; Luyssaert, S.; Kuemmerle, T.; Meyfroidt, P.

2016-12-01

Land-based demand for food and fibre is projected to increase in the future. In light of global sustainability challenges only part of this increase will be met by expansion of land use into relatively untouched regions. Additional demand will have to be fulfilled by intensification and other adjustments in management of land that already is under agricultural and forestry use. Such land management today occurs on about half of the ice-free land surface, as compared to only about one quarter that has undergone a change in land cover. As the number of studies revealing substantial biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects of land management is increasing, moving beyond land cover change towards including land management has become a key focus for Earth system modeling. However, a basis for prioritizing land management activities for implementation in models is lacking. We lay this basis for prioritization in a collaborative project across the disciplines of Earth system modeling, land system science, and Earth observation. We first assess the status and plans of implementing land management in Earth system and dynamic global vegetation models. A clear trend towards higher complexity of land use representation is visible. We then assess five criteria for prioritizing the implementation of land management activities: (1) spatial extent, (2) evidence for substantial effects on the Earth system, (3) process understanding, (4) possibility to link the management activity to existing concepts and structures of models, (5) availability of data required as model input. While the first three criteria have been assessed by an earlier study for ten common management activities, we review strategies for implementation in models and the availability of required datasets. We can thus evaluate the management activities for their performance in terms of importance for the Earth system, possibility of technical implementation in models, and data availability. This synthesis reveals some "low-hanging" fruits for model implementation, but also challenges for the assessment of land management effects by modeling. The identified gaps can guide prioritization within the data community from the Earth system and Earth system modeling perspective.

Model meets data: Challenges and opportunities to implement land management in Earth System Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pongratz, Julia; Dolman, Han; Don, Axel; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Fuchs, Richard; Herold, Martin; Jones, Chris; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Meyfroidt, Patrick; Naudts, Kim

2017-04-01

Land-based demand for food and fibre is projected to increase in the future. In light of global sustainability challenges only part of this increase will be met by expansion of land use into relatively untouched regions. Additional demand will have to be fulfilled by intensification and other adjustments in management of land that already is under agricultural and forestry use. Such land management today occurs on about half of the ice-free land surface, as compared to only about one quarter that has undergone a change in land cover. As the number of studies revealing substantial biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects of land management is increasing, moving beyond land cover change towards including land management has become a key focus for Earth system modeling. However, a basis for prioritizing land management activities for implementation in models is lacking. We lay this basis for prioritization in a collaborative project across the disciplines of Earth system modeling, land system science, and Earth observation. We first assess the status and plans of implementing land management in Earth system and dynamic global vegetation models. A clear trend towards higher complexity of land use representation is visible. We then assess five criteria for prioritizing the implementation of land management activities: (1) spatial extent, (2) evidence for substantial effects on the Earth system, (3) process understanding, (4) possibility to link the management activity to existing concepts and structures of models, (5) availability of data required as model input. While the first three criteria have been assessed by an earlier study for ten common management activities, we review strategies for implementation in models and the availability of required datasets. We can thus evaluate the management activities for their performance in terms of importance for the Earth system, possibility of technical implementation in models, and data availability. This synthesis reveals some "low-hanging" fruits for model implementation, but also challenges for the assessment of land management effects by modeling. The identified gaps can guide prioritization within the data community from the Earth system and Earth system modeling perspective.

Effects of dynamic long-period ocean tides on changes in earth's rotation rate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nam, Young; Dickman, S. R.

1990-01-01

As a generalization of the zonal response coefficient first introduced by Agnew and Farrell (1978), the zonal response function kappa of the solid earth-ocean system is defined as the ratio, in the frequency domain, of the tidal change in earth's rotation rate to the tide-generating potential. Amplitudes and phases of kappa for the monthly, fortnightly, and nine-day lunar tides are estimated from 2 1/2 years of VLBI UT1 observations, corrected for atmospheric angular momentum effects using NMC wind and pressure series. Using the dynamic ocean tide model of Dickman (1988, 1989), amplitudes and phases of kappa for an elastic earth-ocean system are predicted. The predictions confirm earlier results which found that dynamic effects of the longer-period ocean tides reduce the amplitude of kappa by about 1 percent.

Pleistocene tropical Pacific temperature sensitivity to radiative greenhouse gas forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dyck, K. A.; Ravelo, A. C.

2011-12-01

How high will Earth's global average surface temperature ultimately rise as greenhouse gas concentrations increase in the future? One way to tackle this question is to compare contemporaneous temperature and greenhouse gas concentration data from paleoclimate records, while considering that other radiative forcing mechanisms (e.g. changes in the amount and distribution of incoming solar radiation associated with changes in the Earth's orbital configuration) also contribute to surface temperature change. Since the sensitivity of surface temperature varies with location and latitude, here we choose a central location representative of the west Pacific warm pool, far from upwelling regions or surface temperature gradients in order to minimize climate feedbacks associated with high-latitude regions or oceanic dynamics. The 'steady-state' or long-term temperature change associated with greenhouse gas radiative forcing is often labeled as equilibrium (or 'Earth system') climate sensitivity to the doubling of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration. Climate models suggest that Earth system sensitivity does not change dramatically over times when CO2 was lower or higher than the modern atmospheric value. Thus, in our investigation of the changes in tropical SST, from the glacial to interglacial states when greenhouse gas forcing nearly doubled, we use Late Pleistocene paleoclimate records to constrain earth system sensitivity for the tropics. Here we use Mg/Ca-paleothermometry using the foraminifera G. ruber from ODP Site 871 from the past 500 kyr in the western Pacific warm pool to estimate tropical Pacific equilibrium climate sensitivity to a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations to be ~4°C. This tropical SST sensitivity to greenhouse gas forcing is ~1-2°C higher than that predicted by climate models of past glacial periods or future warming for the tropical Pacific. Equatorial Pacific SST sensitivity may be higher than predicted by models for a number of reasons. First, models may not be adequately representing long-term deep ocean feedbacks. Second, models may incorrectly parameterize tropical cloud (or other short-term) feedback processes. Lastly, either paleo-temperature or radiative forcing may have been incorrectly estimated (e.g. through calibration of paleoclimate evidence for temperature change). Since theory suggests that surface temperature in the high latitudes is more sensitive to radiative forcing changes than surface temperature in the tropics, the results of this study also imply that globally averaged Earth system sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations may be higher than most climate models predict.

Climate Literacy: STEM and Climate Change Education and Remote Sensing Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy, S. R.

2015-12-01

NASA Innovations in Climate Education (NICE) is a competitive project to promote climate and Earth system science literacy and seeks to increase the access of underrepresented minority groups to science careers and educational opportunities. A three year funding was received from NASA to partnership with JSU and MSU under cooperative agreement "Strengthening Global Climate Change education through Remote Sensing Application in Coastal Environment using NASA Satellite Data and Models". The goal is to increase the number of highschool and undergraduate students at Jackson State University, a Historically Black University, who are prepared to pursue higher academic degrees and careers in STEM fields. A five Saturday course/workshop was held during March/April 2015 at JSU, focusing on historical and technical concepts of math, enginneering, technology and atmosphere and climate change and remote sensing technology and applications to weather and climate. Nine students from meteorology, biology, industrial technology and computer science/engineering of JSU and 19 high scool students from Jackson Public Schools participated in the course/workshop. The lecture topics include: introduction to remote sensing and GIS, introduction to atmospheric science, math and engineering, climate, introduction to NASA innovations in climate education, introduction to remote sensing technology for bio-geosphere, introduction to earth system science, principles of paleoclimatology and global change, daily weather briefing, satellite image interpretation and so on. In addition to lectures, lab sessions were held for hand-on experiences for remote sensing applications to atmosphere, biosphere, earth system science and climate change using ERDAS/ENVI GIS software and satellite tools. Field trip to Barnett reservoir and National weather Service (NWS) was part of the workshop. Basics of Earth System Science is a non-mathematical introductory course designed for high school seniors, high school teachers and undergraduate students who may or may not have adequate exposure to fundamental concepts of the key components of the modern earth system and their interactions. This is an online course that will be delivered using Blackboard platform available at Jackson State University.

Understanding How Astronauts Adapt to Space and to Earth: Anatomical Studies of Central Vestibular Adaptation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holstein, Gay; Vasques, Marilyn; Aquilina, Rudy (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Significant changes take place in the nervous systems of astronauts during and following exposure to microgravity. These changes, particularly in the part of the brain that controls balance, the vestibular system, can cause sensations of rotation, dizziness, and vertigo, as well as space adaptation syndrome. Adaptation to the microgravity environment usually occurs within one week, and a subsequent re-adaptation period of several days is often required upon return to Earth. In order to realize long-term spaceflight, effective countermeasures for these symptoms must be developed. The structural changes that take place in one of the vestibular regions of the brain (the cerebellar cortex) during the process of adaptation to Earth's gravity remain unclear and are the subject of an experiment being conducted on STS-107 by Dr. Gay Holstein of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Using the rat as a model, Dr. Holstein and her team will seek to identify the cellular changes underlying the vestibular changes experienced by astronauts.

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2004-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special but not exclusive look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2005-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by whch scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

Advancing coupled human-earth system models: The integrated Earth System Model Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomson, A. M.; Edmonds, J. A.; Collins, W.; Thornton, P. E.; Hurtt, G. C.; Janetos, A. C.; Jones, A.; Mao, J.; Chini, L. P.; Calvin, K. V.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Shi, X.

2012-12-01

As human and biogeophysical models develop, opportunities for connections between them evolve and can be used to advance our understanding of human-earth systems interaction in the context of a changing climate. One such integration is taking place with the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM). A multi-disciplinary, multi-institution team has succeeded in integrating the GCAM integrated assessment model of human activity into CESM to dynamically represent the feedbacks between changing climate and human decision making, in the context of greenhouse gas mitigation policies. The first applications of this capability have focused on the feedbacks between climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystem productivity and human decisions affecting future land use change, which are in turn connected to human decisions about energy systems and bioenergy production. These experiments have been conducted in the context of the RCP4.5 scenario, one of four pathways of future radiative forcing being used in CMIP5, which constrains future human-induced greenhouse gas emissions from energy and land activities to stabilize radiative forcing at 4.5 W/m2 (~650 ppm CO2 -eq) by 2100. When this pathway is run in GCAM with the climate feedback on terrestrial productivity from CESM, there are implications for both the land use and energy system changes required for stabilization. Early findings indicate that traditional definitions of radiative forcing used in scenario development are missing a critical component of the biogeophysical consequences of land use change and their contribution to effective radiative forcing. Initial full coupling of the two global models has important implications for how climate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems changes the dynamics of future land use change for agriculture and forestry, particularly in the context of a climate mitigation policy designed to reduce emissions from land use as well as energy systems. While these initial experiments have relied on offline coupling methodologies, current and future experiments are utilizing a single model code developed to integrate GCAM into CESM as a component of the land model. This unique capability facilitates many new applications to scientific questions arising from human and biogeophysical systems interaction. Future developments will further integrate the energy system decisions and greenhouse gas emissions as simulated in GCAM with the appropriate climate and land system components of CESM.

Earth Science Enterprise Technology Strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) is dedicated to understanding the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment. The goals of ESE are: (1) Expand scientific knowledge of the Earth system using NASA's unique vantage points of space, aircraft, and in situ platforms; (2) Disseminate information about the Earth system; and (3) Enable the productive use of ESE science and technology in the public and private sectors. ESE has embraced the NASA Administrator's better, faster, cheaper paradigm for Earth observing missions. We are committed to launch the next generation of Earth Observing System (EOS) missions at a substantially lower cost than the EOS first series. Strategic investment in advanced instrument, spacecraft, and information system technologies is essential to accomplishing ESE's research goals in the coming decades. Advanced technology will play a major role in shaping the ESE fundamental and applied research program of the future. ESE has established an Earth science technology development program with the following objectives: (1) To accomplish ESE space-based and land-based program elements effectively and efficiently; and (2) To enable ESE's fundamental and applied research programs goals as stated in the NASA Strategic Plan.

Design of optimal impulse transfers from the Sun-Earth libration point to asteroid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yamin; Qiao, Dong; Cui, Pingyuan

2015-07-01

The lunar probe, Chang'E-2, is the first one to successfully achieve both the transfer to Sun-Earth libration point orbit and the flyby of near-Earth asteroid Toutatis. This paper, taking the Chang'E-2's asteroid flyby mission as an example, provides a method to design low-energy transfers from the libration point orbit to an asteroid. The method includes the analysis of transfer families and the design of optimal impulse transfers. Firstly, the one-impulse transfers are constructed by correcting the initial guesses, which are obtained by perturbing in the direction of unstable eigenvector. Secondly, the optimality of one-impulse transfers is analyzed and the optimal impulse transfers are built by using the primer vector theory. After optimization, the transfer families, including the slow and the fast transfers, are refined to be continuous and lower-cost transfers. The method proposed in this paper can be also used for designing transfers from an arbitrary Sun-Earth libration point orbit to a near-Earth asteroid in the Sun-Earth-Moon system.

Mass, Energy, Space And Time System Theory---MEST A way to help our earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Dayong

2009-03-01

There are two danger to our earth. The first, the sun will expand to devour our earth, for example, the ozonosphere of our earth is be broken; The second, the asteroid will impact near our earth. According to MEST, there is a interaction between Black hole (and Dark matter-energy) and Solar system. The orbit of Jupiter is a boundary of the interaction between Black hole (and Dark matter-energy) and Solar system. Because there are four terrestrial planets which is mass-energy center as solar system, and there are four or five Jovian planets which is gas (space-time) center as black hole system. According to MEST, dark matter-energy take the velocity of Jupiter gose up. So there are a lot of asteroids and dark matter-energy near the orbit of Jupiter-the boundary. Dark matter-energy can change the orbit of asteroid, and take it impacted near our earth. Because the Dark matter-energy will pressure the Solar system. It is a inverse process with sun's expandedness. So the ``two danger'' is from a new process of the balance system between Black hole (and Dark matter-energy) and Solar system. According to MEST, We need to find the right point for our earth in the ``new process of the balance system.''

Space Weather and the State of Cardiovascular System of a Healthy Human Being

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samsonov, S. N.; Manykina, V. I.; Krymsky, G. F.; Petrova, P. G.; Palshina, A. M.; Vishnevsky, V. V.

The term "space weather" characterizes a state of the near-Earth environmental space. An organism of human being represents an open system so the change of conditions in the environment including the near-Earth environmental space influences the health state of a human being.In recent years many works devoted to the effect of space weather on the life on the Earth, and the degree of such effect has been represented from a zero-order up to apocalypse. To reveal a real effect of space weather on the health of human being the international Russian- Ukrainian experiment "Geliomed" is carried out since 2005 (http://geliomed.immsp.kiev.ua) [Vishnevsky et al., 2009]. The analysis of observational set of data has allowed to show a synchronism and globality of such effect (simultaneous manifestation of space weather parameters in a state of cardiovascular system of volunteer groups removed from each other at a distance over 6000 km). The response of volunteer' cardiovascular system to the changes of space weather parameters were observed even at insignificant values of the Earth's geomagnetic field. But even at very considerable disturbances of space weather parameters a human being healthy did not feel painful symptoms though measurements of objective physiological indices showed their changes.

Blue Marble Space Institute essay contest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wendel, JoAnna

2014-04-01

The Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, based in Seattle, Wash., is inviting college students to participate in its essay contest. Essays need to address the question, "In the next 100 years, how can human civilization prepare for the long-term changes to the Earth system that will occur over the coming millennium?" According to the institute, the purpose of the contest is "to stimulate creative thinking relating to space exploration and global issues by exploring how changes in the Earth system will affect humanity's future."

Representing natural and manmade drainage systems in an earth system modeling framework

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Hongyi; Wu, Huan; Huang, Maoyi

Drainage systems can be categorized into natural or geomorphological drainage systems, agricultural drainage systems and urban drainage systems. They interact closely among themselves and with climate and human society, particularly under extreme climate and hydrological events such as floods. This editorial articulates the need to holistically understand and model drainage systems in the context of climate change and human influence, and discusses the requirements and examples of feasible approaches to representing natural and manmade drainage systems in an earth system modeling framework.

The Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barstow, Daniel; Geary, Ed; Yazijian, Harvey

2002-01-01

Explains the changing nature of earth and space science education such as using inquiry-based teaching, how technology allows students to use satellite images in inquiry-based investigations, the consideration of earth and space as a whole system rather than a sequence of topics, and increased student participation in learning opportunities. (YDS)

What's Under Your Feet? Activity Book. Earth Science for Everyone.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubin, Penni; Robbins, Eleanora I.

This profusely illustrated activity book helps students understand systems and cycles, how years change the look of the Earth, and how students can protect resources. The sections (and activities) in this book are: (1) The Earth (Introduction--View, Soil & Dirt); (2) Forces (Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, Mountain Building, Erosion, Volcanoes,…

Definition and Proposed Realization of the International Height Reference System (IHRS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ihde, Johannes; Sánchez, Laura; Barzaghi, Riccardo; Drewes, Hermann; Foerste, Christoph; Gruber, Thomas; Liebsch, Gunter; Marti, Urs; Pail, Roland; Sideris, Michael

2017-05-01

Studying, understanding and modelling global change require geodetic reference frames with an order of accuracy higher than the magnitude of the effects to be actually studied and with high consistency and reliability worldwide. The International Association of Geodesy, taking care of providing a precise geodetic infrastructure for monitoring the Earth system, promotes the implementation of an integrated global geodetic reference frame that provides a reliable frame for consistent analysis and modelling of global phenomena and processes affecting the Earth's gravity field, the Earth's surface geometry and the Earth's rotation. The definition, realization, maintenance and wide utilization of the International Terrestrial Reference System guarantee a globally unified geometric reference frame with an accuracy at the millimetre level. An equivalent high-precision global physical reference frame that supports the reliable description of changes in the Earth's gravity field (such as sea level variations, mass displacements, processes associated with geophysical fluids) is missing. This paper addresses the theoretical foundations supporting the implementation of such a physical reference surface in terms of an International Height Reference System and provides guidance for the coming activities required for the practical and sustainable realization of this system. Based on conceptual approaches of physical geodesy, the requirements for a unified global height reference system are derived. In accordance with the practice, its realization as the International Height Reference Frame is designed. Further steps for the implementation are also proposed.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), seen in the Space Station Processing Facility, was designed and built by the Boeing Co. at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. WORF will be delivered to the International Space Station and placed in the rack position in front of the Destiny lab window, providing locations for attaching cameras, multi-spectral scanners and other instruments. WORF will support a variety of scientific and commercial experiments in areas of Earth systems and processes, global ecological changes in Earth’s biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and climate system, Earth resources, natural hazards, and education. After installation, it will become a permanent focal point for Earth Science research aboard the space station.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-08

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), seen in the Space Station Processing Facility, was designed and built by the Boeing Co. at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. WORF will be delivered to the International Space Station and placed in the rack position in front of the Destiny lab window, providing locations for attaching cameras, multi-spectral scanners and other instruments. WORF will support a variety of scientific and commercial experiments in areas of Earth systems and processes, global ecological changes in Earth’s biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and climate system, Earth resources, natural hazards, and education. After installation, it will become a permanent focal point for Earth Science research aboard the space station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility check out the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), designed and built by the Boeing Co. at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. WORF will be delivered to the International Space Station and placed in the rack position in front of the Destiny lab window, providing locations for attaching cameras, multi-spectral scanners and other instruments. WORF will support a variety of scientific and commercial experiments in areas of Earth systems and processes, global ecological changes in Earth’s biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and climate system, Earth resources, natural hazards, and education. After installation, it will become a permanent focal point for Earth Science research aboard the space station.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-08

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility check out the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), designed and built by the Boeing Co. at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. WORF will be delivered to the International Space Station and placed in the rack position in front of the Destiny lab window, providing locations for attaching cameras, multi-spectral scanners and other instruments. WORF will support a variety of scientific and commercial experiments in areas of Earth systems and processes, global ecological changes in Earth’s biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and climate system, Earth resources, natural hazards, and education. After installation, it will become a permanent focal point for Earth Science research aboard the space station.

Laurel Clark Earth Camp: Building a Framework for Teacher and Student Understanding of Earth Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colodner, D.; Buxner, S.; Schwartz, K.; Orchard, A.; Titcomb, A.; King, B.; Baldridge, A.; Thomas-Hilburn, H.; Crown, D. A.

2013-04-01

Laurel Clark Earth Camp is designed to inspire teachers and students to study their world through field experiences, remote sensing investigations, and hands on exploration, all of which lend context to scientific inquiry. In three different programs (for middle school students, for high school students, and for teachers) participants are challenged to understand Earth processes from the perspectives of both on-the ground inspection and from examination of satellite images, and use those multiple perspectives to determine best practices on both a societal and individual scale. Earth Camp is a field-based program that takes place both in the “natural” and built environment. Middle School Earth Camp introduces students to a variety of environmental science, engineering, technology, and societal approaches to sustainability. High School Earth Camp explores ecology and water resources from southern Arizona to eastern Utah, including a 5 day rafting trip. In both camps, students compare environmental change observed through repeat photography on the ground to changes observed from space. Students are encouraged to utilize their camp experience in considering their future course of study, career objectives, and lifestyle choices. During Earth Camp for Educators, teachers participate in a series of weekend workshops to explore relevant environmental science practices, including water quality testing, biodiversity surveys, water and light audits, and remote sensing. Teachers engage students, both in school and after school, in scientific investigations with this broad based set of tools. Earth Stories from Space is a website that will assist in developing skills and comfort in analyzing change over time and space using remotely sensed images. Through this three-year NASA funded program, participants will appreciate the importance of scale and perspective in understanding Earth systems and become inspired to make choices that protect the environment.

Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Motesharrei, Safa; Rivas, Jorge; Kalnay, Eugenia

Over the last two centuries, the impact of the Human System has grown dramatically, becoming strongly dominant within the Earth System in many different ways. Consumption, inequality, and population have increased extremely fast, especially since about 1950, threatening to overwhelm the many critical functions and ecosystems of the Earth System. Changes in the Earth System, in turn, have important feedback effects on the Human System, with costly and potentially serious consequences. However, current models do not incorporate these critical feedbacks. Here, we argue that in order to understand the dynamics of either system, Earth System Models must be coupled withmore » Human System Models through bidirectional couplings representing the positive, negative, and delayed feedbacks that exist in the real systems. In particular, key Human System variables, such as demographics, inequality, economic growth, and migration, are not coupled with the Earth System but are instead driven by exogenous estimates, such as United Nations population projections.This makes current models likely to miss important feedbacks in the real Earth–Human system, especially those that may result in unexpected or counterintuitive outcomes, and thus requiring different policy interventions from current models. Lastly, the importance and imminence of sustainability challenges, the dominant role of the Human System in the Earth System, and the essential roles the Earth System plays for the Human System, all call for collaboration of natural scientists, social scientists, and engineers in multidisciplinary research and modeling to develop coupled Earth–Human system models for devising effective science-based policies and measures to benefit current and future generations.« less

Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Motesharrei, Safa; Rivas, Jorge; Kalnay, Eugenia

Over the last two centuries, the impact of the Human System has grown dramatically, becoming strongly dominant within the Earth System in many different ways. Consumption, inequality, and population have increased extremely fast, especially since about 1950, threatening to overwhelm the many critical functions and ecosystems of the Earth System. Changes in the Earth System, in turn, have important feedback effects on the Human System, with costly and potentially serious consequences. However, current models do not incorporate these critical feedbacks. We argue that in order to understand the dynamics of either system, Earth System Models must be coupled with Humanmore » System Models through bidirectional couplings representing the positive, negative, and delayed feedbacks that exist in the real systems. In particular, key Human System variables, such as demographics, inequality, economic growth, and migration, are not coupled with the Earth System but are instead driven by exogenous estimates, such as United Nations population projections. This makes current models likely to miss important feedbacks in the real Earth–Human system, especially those that may result in unexpected or counterintuitive outcomes, and thus requiring different policy interventions from current models. The importance and imminence of sustainability challenges, the dominant role of the Human System in the Earth System, and the essential roles the Earth System plays for the Human System, all call for collaboration of natural scientists, social scientists, and engineers in multidisciplinary research and modeling to develop coupled Earth–Human system models for devising effective science-based policies and measures to benefit current and future generations.« less

Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems

DOE PAGES

Motesharrei, Safa; Rivas, Jorge; Kalnay, Eugenia; ...

2016-12-11

Over the last two centuries, the impact of the Human System has grown dramatically, becoming strongly dominant within the Earth System in many different ways. Consumption, inequality, and population have increased extremely fast, especially since about 1950, threatening to overwhelm the many critical functions and ecosystems of the Earth System. Changes in the Earth System, in turn, have important feedback effects on the Human System, with costly and potentially serious consequences. However, current models do not incorporate these critical feedbacks. Here, we argue that in order to understand the dynamics of either system, Earth System Models must be coupled withmore » Human System Models through bidirectional couplings representing the positive, negative, and delayed feedbacks that exist in the real systems. In particular, key Human System variables, such as demographics, inequality, economic growth, and migration, are not coupled with the Earth System but are instead driven by exogenous estimates, such as United Nations population projections.This makes current models likely to miss important feedbacks in the real Earth–Human system, especially those that may result in unexpected or counterintuitive outcomes, and thus requiring different policy interventions from current models. Lastly, the importance and imminence of sustainability challenges, the dominant role of the Human System in the Earth System, and the essential roles the Earth System plays for the Human System, all call for collaboration of natural scientists, social scientists, and engineers in multidisciplinary research and modeling to develop coupled Earth–Human system models for devising effective science-based policies and measures to benefit current and future generations.« less

A comprehensive mission to planet Earth: Woods Hole Space Science and Applications Advisory Committee Planning Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The NASA program Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is described in this set of visuals presented in Massachusetts on July 29, 1991. The problem presented in this document is that the earth system is changing and that human activity accelerates the rate of change resulting in increased greenhouse gases, decreasing levels of stratospheric ozone, acid rain, deforestation, decreasing biodiversity, and overpopulation. Various national and international organizations are coordinating global change research. The complementary space observations for this activity are sun-synchronous polar orbits, low-inclination, low altitude orbits, geostationary orbits, and ground measurements. The Geostationary Earth Observatory is the major proposed mission of MTPE. Other proposed missions are EOS Synthetic Aperture Radar, ARISTOTELES Magnetic Field Experiment, and the Global Topography Mission. Use of the NASA DC-8 aircraft is outlined as carrying out the Airborne Science and Applications Program. Approved Earth Probes Program include the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). Other packages for earth observation are described.

Broad-Band Analysis of Polar Motion Excitations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J.

2016-12-01

Earth rotational changes, i.e. polar motion and length-of-day (LOD), are driven by two types of geophysical excitations: 1) mass redistribution within the Earth system, and 2) angular momentum exchange between the solid Earth (more precisely the crust) and other components of the Earth system. Accurate quantification of Earth rotational excitations has been difficult, due to the lack of global-scale observations of mass redistribution and angular momentum exchange. The over 14-years time-variable gravity measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) have provided a unique means for quantifying Earth rotational excitations from mass redistribution in different components of the climate system. Comparisons between observed Earth rotational changes and geophysical excitations estimated from GRACE, satellite laser ranging (SLR) and climate models show that GRACE-derived excitations agree remarkably well with polar motion observations over a broad-band of frequencies. GRACE estimates also suggest that accelerated polar region ice melting in recent years and corresponding sea level rise have played an important role in driving long-term polar motion as well. With several estimates of polar motion excitations, it is possible to estimate broad-band noise variance and noise power spectra in each, given reasonable assumptions about noise independence. Results based on GRACE CSR RL05 solutions clearly outperform other estimates with the lowest noise levels over a broad band of frequencies.

BIOME: A scientific data archive search-and-order system using browser-aware, dynamic pages.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jennings, S.V.; Yow, T.G.; Ng, V.W.

1997-08-01

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory`s (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) is a data archive and distribution center for the National Air and Space Administration`s (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Both the Earth Observing System (EOS) and EOSDIS are components of NASA`s contribution to the US Global Change Research Program through its Mission to Planet Earth Program. The ORNL DAAC provides access to data used in ecological and environmental research such as global change, global warming, and terrestrial ecology. Because of its large and diverse data holdings, the challenge for the ORNL DAAC is to helpmore » users find data of interest from the hundreds of thousands of files available at the DAAC without overwhelming them. Therefore, the ORNL DAAC has developed the Biogeochemical Information Ordering Management Environment (BIOME), a customized search and order system for the World Wide Web (WWW). BIOME is a public system located at http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/BIOME/biome.html.« less

BIOME: A scientific data archive search-and-order system using browser-aware, dynamic pages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennings, S. V.; Yow, T. G.; Ng, V. W.

1997-01-01

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) is a data archive and distribution center for the National Air and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Both the Earth Observing System (EOS) and EOSDIS are components of NASA's contribution to the US Global Change Research Program through its Mission to Planet Earth Program. The ORNL DAAC provides access to data used in ecological and environmental research such as global change, global warming, and terrestrial ecology. Because of its large and diverse data holdings, the challenge for the ORNL DAAC is to help users find data of interest from the hundreds of thousands of files available at the DAAC without overwhelming them. Therefore, the ORNL DAAC has developed the Biogeochemical Information Ordering Management Environment (BIOME), a customized search and order system for the World Wide Web (WWW). BIOME is a public system located at http://www-eosdis. ornl.gov/BIOME/biome.html.

A geophysiologist's thoughts on geoengineering.

PubMed

Lovelock, James

2008-11-13

The Earth is now recognized as a self-regulating system that includes a reactive biosphere; the system maintains a long-term steady-state climate and surface chemical composition favourable for life. We are perturbing the steady state by changing the land surface from mainly forests to farm land and by adding greenhouse gases and aerosol pollutants to the air. We appear to have exceeded the natural capacity to counter our perturbation and consequently the system is changing to a new and as yet unknown but probably adverse state. I suggest here that we regard the Earth as a physiological system and consider amelioration techniques, geoengineering, as comparable to nineteenth century medicine.

EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS). [landsat satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

In the past decade, science and technology have reached levels that permit assessments of global environmental change. Scientific success in understanding global environmental change depends on integration and management of numerous data sources. The Global Change Data and Information System (GCDIS) must provide for the management of data, information dissemination, and technology transfer. The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is NASA's portion of this global change information system.

Radiometric sounding system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whiteman, C.D.; Anderson, G.A.; Alzheimer, J.M.

1995-04-01

Vertical profiles of solar and terrestrial radiative fluxes are key research needs for global climate change research. These fluxes are expected to change as radiatively active trace gases are emitted to the earth`s atmosphere as a consequence of energy production and industrial and other human activities. Models suggest that changes in the concentration of such gases will lead to radiative flux divergences that will produce global warming of the earth`s atmosphere. Direct measurements of the vertical variation of solar and terrestrial radiative fluxes that lead to these flux divergences have been largely unavailable because of the expense of making suchmore » measurements from airplanes. These measurements are needed to improve existing atmospheric radiative transfer models, especially under the cloudy conditions where the models have not been adequately tested. A tethered-balloon-borne Radiometric Sounding System has been developed at Pacific Northwest Laboratory to provide an inexpensive means of making routine vertical soundings of radiative fluxes in the earth`s atmospheric boundary layer to altitudes up to 1500 m above ground level. Such vertical soundings would supplement measurements being made from aircraft and towers. The key technical challenge in the design of the Radiometric Sounding System is to develop a means of keeping the radiometers horizontal while the balloon ascends and descends in a turbulent atmospheric environment. This problem has been addressed by stabilizing a triangular radiometer-carrying platform that is carried on the tetherline of a balloon sounding system. The platform, carried 30 m or more below the balloon to reduce the balloon`s effect on the radiometric measurements, is leveled by two automatic control loops that activate motors, gears and pulleys when the platform is off-level. The sensitivity of the automatic control loops to oscillatory motions of various frequencies and amplitudes can be adjusted using filters.« less

Supporting Instruction By Defining Conceptual Relevance Of Materials: Alignment Of Resources To An Earth Systems Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menicucci, A. J.; Bean, J. R.

2017-12-01

Environmental, geological, and climatological sciences are important facets of physical science education. However, it is often difficult for educators to acquire the necessary resources to facilitate content explanations, and demonstration of the conceptual links between individual lessons. The Understanding Global Change (UGC) Project at the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) at UC Berkeley is aligning new and existing Earth systems educational resources that are high-quality, interactive and inquiry based. Learning resources are organized by the UGC framework topics (Causes of Change, How the Earth System Works, and Measurable Changes), and focus on exploring topic relationships. Resources are currently aligned with both the UGC framework and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), facilitating broad utility among K-16 educators. The overarching goal of the UGC Project is to provide the necessary resources that guide the construction of coherent, interdisciplinary instructional units. These units can be reinforced through system models, providing visual learning scaffolds for assessments of student content knowledge. Utilizing the central framework of UGC alleviates the long-standing problem of creating coherent instructional units from multiple learning resources, each organized and categorized independently across multiple platforms that may not provide explicit connections among Earth science subjects UGC topic cross listing of learning modules establishes conceptual links. Each resource is linked across several Earth system components, facilitating exploration of relationships and feedbacks between processes. Cross listed topics are therefore useful for development of broad picture learning goals via targeted instructional units. We also anticipate cultivating summaries of the explicit conceptual links explored in each resource from both current teachers and content specialists. Insructional units currated and aligned under the UGC framework therefore have the potential for users to develop and impliment inderdisciplinary lesson plans, including multi-segmented units designed to function as independent educational segments, that combine to provide broader subject exploration and deeper understanding of Earth system relationships.

Nonlinear dynamics of global atmospheric and earth system processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Taiping; Verbitsky, Mikhail; Saltzman, Barry; Mann, Michael E.; Park, Jeffrey; Lall, Upmanu

1995-01-01

During the grant period, the authors continued ongoing studies aimed at enhancing their understanding of the operation of the atmosphere as a complex nonlinear system interacting with the hydrosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere in response to external radiative forcing. Five papers were completed with support from the grant, representing contributions in three main areas of study: (1) theoretical studies of the interactive atmospheric response to changed biospheric boundary conditions measurable from satellites; (2) statistical-observational studies of global-scale temperature variability on interannual to century time scales; and (3) dynamics of long-term earth system changes associated with ice sheet surges.

Our Mission to Planet Earth: A guide to teaching Earth system science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

Volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, floods, and El Nino are naturally occurring events over which humans have no control. But can human activities cause additional environmental change? Can scientists predict the global impacts of increased levels of pollutants in the atmosphere? Will the planet warm because increased levels of greenhouse gases, produced by the burning of fossil fuels, trap heat and prevent it from being radiated back into space? Will the polar ice cap melt, causing massive coastal flooding? Have humans initiated wholesale climatic change? These are difficult questions, with grave implications. Predicting global change and understanding the relationships among earth's components have increased in priority for the nation. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), along with many other government agencies, has initiated long-term studies of earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land masses using observations from satellite, balloon, and aircraft-borne instruments. NASA calls its research program Mission to Planet Earth. Because NASA can place scientific instruments far above earth's surface, the program allows scientists to explore earth's components and their interactions on a global scale.

1993 Earth Observing System reference handbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Asrar, Ghassem (Editor); Dokken, David Jon (Editor)

1993-01-01

Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is a NASA-sponsored concept that uses space- and ground-based measurement systems to provide the scientific basis for understanding global change. The space-based components of MTPE will provide a constellation of satellites to monitor the Earth from space. Sustained observations will allow researchers to monitor climate variables overtime to determine trends; however, space-based monitoring alone is not sufficient. A comprehensive data and information system, a community of scientists performing research with the data acquired, and extensive ground campaigns are all important components. Brief descriptions of the various elements that comprise the overall mission are provided. The Earth Observing System (EOS) - a series of polar-orbiting and low-inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans - is the centerpiece of MTPE. The elements comprising the EOS mission are described in detail.

Our Changing Climate: A Brand New Way to Study Climate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I.; Nugnes, K. A.; Mills, E. W.

2014-12-01

Earth's climate is inherently variable, but is currently changing at rates unprecedented in recent Earth history. Human activity plays a major role in this change and is projected to do so well into the future. This is the stance taken in Our Changing Climate, the brand new climate science ebook from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Our Changing Climate investigates Earth's climate system, explores humans' impact on it, and identifies actions needed in response to climate change. Released in August 2014, Our Changing Climate is the result of a year's worth of intensive research and writing, incorporating the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the Third National Climate Assessment. To encourage additional exploration of climate science information, scientific literature, from which chapter content was derived, is cited at the conclusion of each chapter. In addition, Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive information related to various topics. For example, a Topic In Depth in Chapter 11 describes the effect of climate extremes on ranching enterprises in Nebraska. Climate science is multi-disciplinary and therefore Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics. From understanding basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate Earth's climate system to examining the psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial, the AMS believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is the most effective way to increase climate literacy. Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course which is intended for undergraduate-level students. Other course materials include an eInvestigations Manual and access to the RealTime Climate Portal, both of which provide weekly activities corresponding to that week's chapter content. The RealTime Climate Portal also has links to climate data as well as societal interactions and climate policy websites to spur further interest. Faculty support materials are also provided. AMS Climate Studies has been licensed by 130 institutions since Fall 2010. Our Changing Climate reveals the impact that each of us has on the climate. With this understanding come choices and actions for a more sustainable future.

Climate, ecosystems, and planetary futures: The challenge to predict life in Earth system models.

PubMed

Bonan, Gordon B; Doney, Scott C

2018-02-02

Many global change stresses on terrestrial and marine ecosystems affect not only ecosystem services that are essential to humankind, but also the trajectory of future climate by altering energy and mass exchanges with the atmosphere. Earth system models, which simulate terrestrial and marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, offer a common framework for ecological research related to climate processes; analyses of vulnerability, impacts, and adaptation; and climate change mitigation. They provide an opportunity to move beyond physical descriptors of atmospheric and oceanic states to societally relevant quantities such as wildfire risk, habitat loss, water availability, and crop, fishery, and timber yields. To achieve this, the science of climate prediction must be extended to a more multifaceted Earth system prediction that includes the biosphere and its resources. Copyright © 2018, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Near-Term Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne; Mitchell, Andrew; Ramapriyan, Hampapuram

2018-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's. EOSDIS manages data covering a wide range of Earth science disciplines including cryosphere, land cover change, polar processes, field campaigns, ocean surface, digital elevation, atmosphere dynamics and composition, and inter-disciplinary research, and many others. One of the key components of EOSDIS is a set of twelve discipline-based Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) distributed across the United States. Managed by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at Goddard Space Flight Center, these DAACs serve over 3 million users globally. The ESDIS Project provides the infrastructure support for EOSDIS, which includes other components such as the Science Investigator-led Processing systems (SIPS), common metadata and metrics management systems, specialized network systems, standards management, and centralized support for use of commercial cloud capabilities. Given the long-term requirements, and the rapid pace of information technology and changing expectations of the user community, EOSDIS has evolved continually over the past three decades. However, many challenges remain. Challenges addressed in this paper include: growing volume and variety, achieving consistency across a diverse set of data producers, managing information about a large number of datasets, migration to a cloud computing environment, optimizing data discovery and access, incorporating user feedback from a diverse community, keeping metadata updated as data collections grow and age, and ensuring that all the content needed for understanding datasets by future users is identified and preserved.

Orbital Noise in the Earth System and Climate Fluctuations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Han-Shou; Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Frequency noise in the variations of the Earth's obliquity (tilt) can modulate the insolation signal for climate change. Including this frequency noise effect on the incoming solar radiation, we have applied an energy balance climate model to calculate the climate fluctuations for the past one million years. Model simulation results are in good agreement with the geologically observed paleoclimate data. We conclude that orbital noise in the Earth system may be the major cause of the climate fluctuation cycles.

The Early Years: The Earth-Sun System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashbrook, Peggy

2015-01-01

We all experience firsthand many of the phenomena caused by Earth's Place in the Universe (Next Generation Science Standard 5-ESS1; NGSS Lead States 2013) and the relative motion of the Earth, Sun, and Moon. Young children can investigate phenomena such as changes in times of sunrise and sunset (number of daylight hours), Moon phases, seasonal…

Determining How Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations Have Changed during the History of the Earth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Badger, Marcus P. S.; Pancost, Richard D.; Harrison, Timothy G.

2011-01-01

The reconstruction of ancient atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations is essential to understanding the history of the Earth and life. It is also an important guide to identifying the sensitivity of the Earth system to this greenhouse gas and, therefore, constraining its future impact on climate. However, determining the concentration of…

Satellite Gravity and the Geosphere: Contributions to the Study of the Solid Earth and Its Fluid Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickey, J. O.; Bentley, C. R.; Bilham, R.; Carton, J. A.; Eanes, R. J.; Herring, T. A.; Kaula, W. M.; Lagerloef, G. S. E.; Rojstaczer, S.; Smith, W. H. F.;

Dust in the Earth system: the biogeochemical linking of land, air and sea.

PubMed

Ridgwell, Andy J

2002-12-15

Understanding the response of the Earth's climate system to anthropogenic perturbation has been a pressing priority for society since the late 1980s. However, recent years have seen a major paradigm shift in how such an understanding can be reached. Climate change demands analysis within an integrated 'Earth-system' framework, taken to encompass the suite of interacting physical, chemical, biological and human processes that, in transporting and transforming materials and energy, jointly determine the conditions for life on the whole planet. This is a highly complex system, characterized by multiple nonlinear responses and thresholds, with linkages often between apparently disparate components. The interconnected nature of the Earth system is wonderfully illustrated by the diverse roles played by atmospheric transport of mineral 'dust', particularly in its capacity as a key pathway for the delivery of nutrients essential to plant growth, not only on land, but perhaps more importantly, in the ocean. Dust therefore biogeochemically links land, air and sea. This paper reviews the biogeochemical role of mineral dust in the Earth system and its interaction with climate, and, in particular, the potential importance of both past and possible future changes in aeolian delivery of the micro-nutrient iron to the ocean. For instance, if, in the future, there was to be a widespread stabilization of soils for the purpose of carbon sequestration on land, a reduction in aeolian iron supply to the open ocean would occur. The resultant weakening of the oceanic carbon sink could potentially offset much of the carbon sequestered on land. In contrast, during glacial times, enhanced dust supply to the ocean could have 'fertilized' the biota and driven atmospheric CO(2) lower. Dust might even play an active role in driving climatic change; since changes in dust supply may affect climate, and changes in climate, in turn, influence dust, a 'feedback loop' is formed. Possible feedback mechanisms are identified, recognition of whose operation could be crucial to our understanding of major climatic transitions over the past few million years.

Earth elevation map production and high resolution sensing camera imaging analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiubin; Jin, Guang; Jiang, Li; Dai, Lu; Xu, Kai

2010-11-01

The Earth's digital elevation which impacts space camera imaging has prepared and imaging has analysed. Based on matching error that TDI CCD integral series request of the speed of image motion, statistical experimental methods-Monte Carlo method is used to calculate the distribution histogram of Earth's elevation in image motion compensated model which includes satellite attitude changes, orbital angular rate changes, latitude, longitude and the orbital inclination changes. And then, elevation information of the earth's surface from SRTM is read. Earth elevation map which produced for aerospace electronic cameras is compressed and spliced. It can get elevation data from flash according to the shooting point of latitude and longitude. If elevation data between two data, the ways of searching data uses linear interpolation. Linear interpolation can better meet the rugged mountains and hills changing requests. At last, the deviant framework and camera controller are used to test the character of deviant angle errors, TDI CCD camera simulation system with the material point corresponding to imaging point model is used to analyze the imaging's MTF and mutual correlation similarity measure, simulation system use adding cumulation which TDI CCD imaging exceeded the corresponding pixel horizontal and vertical offset to simulate camera imaging when stability of satellite attitude changes. This process is practicality. It can effectively control the camera memory space, and meet a very good precision TDI CCD camera in the request matches the speed of image motion and imaging.

Development and validation of a learning progression for change of seasons, solar and lunar eclipses, and moon phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Testa, Italo; Galano, Silvia; Leccia, Silvio; Puddu, Emanuella

2015-12-01

In this paper, we report about the development and validation of a learning progression about the Celestial Motion big idea. Existing curricula, research studies on alternative conceptions about these phenomena, and students' answers to an open questionnaire were the starting point to develop initial learning progressions about change of seasons, solar and lunar eclipses, and Moon phases; then, a two-tier multiple choice questionnaire was designed to validate and improve them. The questionnaire was submitted to about 300 secondary students of different school levels (14 to 18 years old). Item response analysis and curve integral method were used to revise the hypothesized learning progressions. Findings support that spatial reasoning is a key cognitive factor for building an explanatory framework for the Celestial Motion big idea, but also suggest that causal reasoning based on physics mechanisms underlying the phenomena, as light flux laws or energy transfers, may significantly impact a students' understanding. As an implication of the study, we propose that the teaching of the three discussed astronomy phenomena should follow a single teaching-learning path along the following sequence: (i) emphasize from the beginning the geometrical aspects of the Sun-Moon-Earth system motion; (ii) clarify consequences of the motion of the Sun-Moon-Earth system, as the changing solar radiation flow on the surface of Earth during the revolution around the Sun; (iii) help students moving between different reference systems (Earth and space observer's perspective) to understand how Earth's rotation and revolution can change the appearance of the Sun and Moon. Instructional and methodological implications are also briefly discussed.

Earth Science Teaching Strategies Used in the International Polar Year

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparrow, E. B.

2009-04-01

There are many effective methods for teaching earth science education that are being successfully used during the fourth International Polar Year (IPY). Relevance of IPY and the polar regions is better understood using a systems thinking approach used in earth science education. Changes in components of the earth system have a global effect; and changes in the polar regions will affect the rest of the world regions and vice versa. Teaching strategies successfully used for primary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate student earth science education and IPY education outreach include: 1) engaging students in earth science or environmental research relevant to their locale; 2) blending lectures with research expeditions or field studies, 3) connecting students with scientists in person and through audio and video conferencing; 4) combining science and arts in teaching, learning and communicating about earth science and the polar regions, capitalizing on the uniqueness of polar regions and its inhabitants, and its sensitivity to climate change; and 5) integrating different perspectives: western science, indigenous and community knowledge in the content and method of delivery. Use of these strategies are exemplified in IPY projects in the University of the Arctic IPY Higher Education Outreach Project cluster such as the GLOBE Seasons and Biomes project, the Ice Mysteries e-Polar Books: An Innovative Way of Combining Science and Literacy project, the Resilience and Adaptation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship project, and the Svalbard Research Experience for Undergraduates project.

The Sun/Earth System and Space Weather

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poland, Arthur I.; Fox, Nicola; Lucid, Shannon

2003-01-01

Solar variability and solar activity are now seen as significant drivers with respect to the Earth and human technology systems. Observations over the last 10 years have significantly advanced our understanding of causes and effects in the Sun/Earth system. On a practical level the interactions between the Sun and Earth dictate how we build our systems in space (communications satellites, GPS, etc), and some of our ground systems (power grids). This talk will be about the Sun/Earth system: how it changes with time, its magnetic interactions, flares, the solar wind, and how the Sun effects human systems. Data will be presented from some current spacecraft which show, for example, how we are able to currently give warnings to the scientific community, the Government and industry about space storms and how this data has improved our physical understanding of processes on the Sun and in the magnetosphere. The scientific advances provided by our current spacecraft has led to a new program in NASA to develop a 'Space Weather' system called 'Living With a Star'. The current plan for the 'Living With a Star' program will also be presented.

Global Change and the Earth System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollack, Henry N.

2004-08-01

The Earth system in recent years has come to mean the complex interactions of the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere, through an intricate network of feedback loops. This system has operated over geologic time, driven principally by processes with long time scales. Over the lifetime of the solar system, the Sun has slowly become more radiant, and the geography of continents and oceans basins has evolved via plate tectonics. This geography has placed a first-order constraint on the circulation of ocean waters, and thus has strongly influenced regional and global climate. At shorter time scales, the Earth system has been influenced by Milankovitch orbital factors and occasional exogenous events such as bolide impacts. Under these influences the system chugged along for eons, until some few hundred thousand years ago, when one remarkable species evolved: Homo sapiens. As individuals, humans are of course insignificant in shaping the Earth system, but collectively the six billion human occupants of the planet now rival ``natural'' processes in modifying the Earth system. This profound human influence underlies the dubbing of the present epoch of geologic history as the ``Anthropocene.''

7th Class Students' Opinions on Sun, Earth and Moon System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Suleyman

2017-01-01

This study is conducted to detect the students' perceptions on Sun, Moon and Earth (SME) system and define the 7th grade students' attitudes on the subject. In the study, since it was aimed to detect and evaluate the students' perceptions on some basic astronomical concepts without changing the natural conditions, a descriptive approach was…

Investigation of Seasonal Landscape Freeze/Thaw Cycles in Relation to Cloud Structure in the High Northern Latitudes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Cosmo

2011-01-01

The seasonal freezing and thawing of Earth's cryosphere (the portion of Earth's surface permanently or seasonally frozen) has an immense impact on Earth's climate as well as on its water, carbon and energy cycles. During the spring, snowmelt and the transition between frozen and non-frozen states lowers Earth's surface albedo. This change in albedo causes more solar radiation to be absorbed by the land surface, raising surface soil and air temperatures as much as 5 C within a few days. The transition of ice into liquid water not only raises the surface humidity, but also greatly affects the energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere as the phase change creates a latent energy dominated system. There is strong evidence to suggest that the thawing of the cryosphere during spring and refreezing during autumn is correlated to local atmospheric conditions such as cloud structure and frequency. Understanding the influence of land surface freeze/thaw cycles on atmospheric structure can help improve our understanding of links between seasonal land surface state and weather and climate, providing insight into associated changes in Earth's water, carbon, and energy cycles that are driven by climate change.Information on both the freeze/thaw states of Earth's land surface and cloud characteristics is derived from data sets collected by NOAA's Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on NASA's Earth Observing System(AMSR-E), NASA's CloudSat, and NASA's SeaWinds-on-QuickSCAT Earth remote sensing satellite instruments. These instruments take advantage of the microwave spectrum to collect an ensemble of atmospheric and land surface data. Our analysis uses data from radars (active instruments which transmit a microwave signal toward Earth and measure the resultant backscatter) and radiometers (passive devices which measure Earth's natural microwave emission) to accurately characterize salient details on Earth's surface and atmospheric states. By comparing the cloud measurements and the surface freeze-thaw data sets, a correlation between the two phenomena can be developed.

Geoethics in the Years of Living Dangerously

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitt, J.

2014-12-01

The geosciences lag behind the ecologic and atmospheric sciences in addressing the major scientific and societal ethical issues facing the inhabitants of planet Earth. Regardless, major emerging ethical issues at the interface of the earth system with society demand geoscientist engagement. These include climate change, extinction and biodiversity decline, transformation of terrestrial landscapes and related impacts on ocean ecosystems, and the consequential resonance of these changes on human health, economic and environmental justice, and political stability. The societal factors driving these issues derive from a world view founded on speciesism (human dominion), utilitarian use of resources, unquestioned population and economic growth, and human difficulty in perceiving deep time and large spatial scale. Accommodation of the supernatural, mythical, and political realms with science has led to widespread conflation of scientific consensus with opinion, driving denial of both climate change and evolution. Future success in rationally addressing these ethical conundrums requires geoscientist engagement across the social, political, economic, ethical, philosophical, and historical realms of inquiry. Geoscientists must be well-versed in earth system science principles and the major geologic concepts relevant to understanding anthropogenic change including deep time, the fossil record of evolution, and changes across multiple spatial and temporal scales that transcend human experience. They must also: 1) confront the global population issue, using the archaeological and historical record of its recent rapidly accelerated growth, especially as it impacts resource consumption and earth system function, 2) forcefully address the effects of agriculture on the atmosphere, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, disease, urbanization, and political instability, 3) apply the synthetic principles of conservation biology, including ecosystem science, geoecology, and major advances in understanding the cognitive abilities and social dimensions of non-human animals to address ethical issues involving humanity's impact on the Earth's biota, and 4) work to end the accommodation of belief systems with science that invariably leads to denialism and historical confabulation.

Climate Sensitivity in the Anthropocene

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Previdi, M.; Liepert, B. G.; Peteet, Dorothy M.; Hansen, J.; Beerling, D. J.; Broccoli, A. J.; Frolking, S.; Galloway, J. N.; Heimann, M.; LeQuere, C.;

Detecting anthropogenic climate forcing in the ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wijffels, S. A.

2016-12-01

Owing to its immense heat capacity, the global ocean is the fly-wheel of the climate system, absorbing, redistributing and storing heat on long timescales and over great distances. Of the extra heat trapped in the Earth System due to rising greenhouse gases, over 90% is being stored in the global oceans. Tracking this warming has been challenging due to past changes in the coverage and technology used in past ocean observations. Here, I'll review progress in estimating past warming rates and patterns. The warming of Earth's surface is also driving changes in the global hydrological cycle, which also intimately involves the oceans. Global ocean salinity changes reveal another footprint of a warming Earth. Some simple model runs that give insight into observed subsurface changes will also be described, along with an update on current warming rates and patterns as tracked by the global Argo programme. The prospects for the next advances in broadscale ocean monitoring will also be discussed.

Progress in geophysical aspects of the rotation of the earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lambeck, K.

1978-01-01

The geophysical causes and consequences of the Earth's rotation are reviewed. Specific topics covered include: (1) the motion of the rotation axis in space, precession and nutation; (2) the motion of the rotation axis relative to the Earth, polar motion; and (3) the rate of rotation about this axis, or changes in the length of day. Secular decrease in obliquity and evolution of the Earth-Moon system are also discussed.

Hydrologic resilience and Amazon productivity.

PubMed

Ahlström, Anders; Canadell, Josep G; Schurgers, Guy; Wu, Minchao; Berry, Joseph A; Guan, Kaiyu; Jackson, Robert B

2017-08-30

The Amazon rainforest is disproportionately important for global carbon storage and biodiversity. The system couples the atmosphere and land, with moist forest that depends on convection to sustain gross primary productivity and growth. Earth system models that estimate future climate and vegetation show little agreement in Amazon simulations. Here we show that biases in internally generated climate, primarily precipitation, explain most of the uncertainty in Earth system model results; models, empirical data and theory converge when precipitation biases are accounted for. Gross primary productivity, above-ground biomass and tree cover align on a hydrological relationship with a breakpoint at ~2000 mm annual precipitation, where the system transitions between water and radiation limitation of evapotranspiration. The breakpoint appears to be fairly stable in the future, suggesting resilience of the Amazon to climate change. Changes in precipitation and land use are therefore more likely to govern biomass and vegetation structure in Amazonia.Earth system model simulations of future climate in the Amazon show little agreement. Here, the authors show that biases in internally generated climate explain most of this uncertainty and that the balance between water-saturated and water-limited evapotranspiration controls the Amazon resilience to climate change.

Monitoring Seasons Through Global Learning Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparrow, E. B.; Robin, J. H.; Jeffries, M. O.; Gordon, L. S.; Verbyla, D. L.; Levine, E. R.

2006-12-01

Monitoring Seasons through Global Learning Communities (MSTGLC) is an inquiry- and project-based project that monitors seasons, specifically their interannual variability, in order to increase K-12 students' understanding of the Earth system by providing teacher professional development in Earth system science and inquiry, and engaging K-12 students in Earth system science research relevant to their local communities that connect globally. MSTGLC connects GLOBE students, teachers, and communities, with educators and scientists from three integrated Earth systems science programs: the International Arctic Research Center, and NASA Landsat Data Continuity and Terra Satellite Missions. The project organizes GLOBE schools by biomes into eight Global Learning Communities (GLCs) and students monitor their seasons through regional based field campaigns. The project expands the current GLOBE phenology network by adapting current protocols and making them biome-specific. In addition, ice and mosquito phenology protocols will be developed for Arctic and Tropical regions, respectively. Initially the project will focus on Tundra and Taiga biomes as phenological changes are so pronounced in these regions. However, our long-term goal is to determine similar changes in other biomes (Deciduous Forest, Desert, Grasslands, Rain Forest, Savannah and Shrubland) based upon what we learn from these two biomes. This project will also contribute to critically needed Earth system science data such as in situ ice, mosquito, and vegetation phenology measurements for ground validations of remotely sensed data, which are essential for regional climate change impact assessments. Additionally it will contribute environmental data critical to prevention and management of diseases such as malaria in Asian, African, and other countries. Furthermore, this project will enable students to participate in the International Polar Year (IPY) (2007-2009) through field campaigns conducted by students in polar regions, and web chats between IPY scientists and GLOBE students from all eight GLCs that include non-polar countries.

NASA's EOSDIS Approach to Big Earth Data Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowe, D. R.; Behnke, J.; Murphy, K. J.

2014-12-01

Over the past 20 years, NASA has been committed to making our Earth Science data more useable and accessible, not only to the community of NASA science researchers, but also to the world-wide public research community. The data collected by NASA's remote sensing instruments represent a significant public investment in research. NASA holds these data in a public trust to promote comprehensive, long-term Earth science research. The Earth Observing System Data & Information System (EOSDIS) was established to meet this goal. From the beginning, NASA employed a free, open and non-discriminatory data policy to maximize the global utilization of the products derived from NASA's observational data and related analyses. EOSDIS is designed to ingest, process, archive, and distribute data in a multi-mission environment. The system supports a wide variety of Earth science disciplines, including cryosphere, land cover change, radiation budget, atmosphere dynamics and composition, as well as inter-disciplinary research, including global climate change. A distributed architecture was adopted to ensure discipline-specific support for the science data, while also leveraging standards and establishing policies and tools to enable interdisciplinary research, and analysis across multiple instruments. Over the past 2 decades the EOSDIS has evolved substantially. Today's EOSDIS is a tightly coupled, yet heterogeneous system designed to meet the requirements of a diverse user community. The system was scaled to expand to meet the ever-growing volume of data (currently ~10 petabytes), and the exponential increase in user demand that has occurred over the past 15 years. We will present how the EOSDIS has evolved to support the variety and volume of NASA's Earth Science data.

Future Earth, Global Science and Regional Programs: Building regional integrated science capacities in a global science organization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tewksbury, J.

2016-12-01

Future Earth has emerged from the more than 30-year history of Global Change Research Programs, including IGBP, DIVERSITAS and IHDP. These programs supported interdisciplinary science in service of societies around the world. Now, their focus on building a greater understanding of changing Earth systems and their couplings with society has passed to Future Earth - with an important addition: Future Earth was also established to focus global change efforts around key societal challenges. The implications for the structure of Future Earth are large. Many challenges within topics, such as the water, energy, food nexus or the future of cities, are manifested within local, national, and regional contexts. How should we organize globally to most effectively confront these multi-scale challenges? The solution proposed in the framing of Future Earth was the formation of regional as well as national committees, as well as the formation of regional centers and offices. Regional Committees serve to both advocate for Future Earth in their regions and to advocate for regional interests in the global Future Earth platform, while regional Centers and offices are built into the Future Earth secretariat to perform a parallel regional implementation function. Implementation has not been easy, and the process has placed regionally-focused projects in an awkward place. Programs such as the Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS), the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), and the South/Southeast Asia Research Initiative (SARI) represent some of the best global change communities in the world, but by design, their focus is regional. The effective integration of these communities into the Future Earth architecture will be critical, and this integration will require the formation of strong regional committees and regional centers.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, Andrew E.; Behnke, Jeanne; Lowe, Dawn; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for determining needs of the user community including use of the American Customer Satisfaction Index and a broad metrics program.

Keeping Earth at work: Using thermodynamics to develop a holistic theory of the Earth system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleidon, Axel

2010-05-01

The Earth system is unique among terrestrial planets in that it is maintained in a state far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Practically all processes are irreversible in their nature, thereby producing entropy, and these would act to destroy this state of disequilibrium. In order to maintain disequilibrium in steady state, driving forces are required that perform the work to maintain the Earth system in a state far from equilibrium. To characterize the functioning of the Earth system and the interactions among its subsystems we need to consider all terms of the first and second law of thermodynamics. While the global energy balance is well established in climatology, the global entropy and work balances receive little, if any, attention. Here I will present first steps in developing a holistic theory of the Earth system including quantifications of the relevant terms that is based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics. This theory allows us to compare the significance of different processes in driving and maintaining disequilibrium, allows us to explore interactions by investigating the role of power transfer among processes, and specifically illustrate the significance of life in driving planetary disequilibrium. Furthermore, the global work balance demonstrates the significant impact of human activity and it provides an estimate for the availability of renewable sources of free energy within the Earth system. Hence, I conclude that a holistic thermodynamic theory of the Earth system is not just some academic exercise of marginal use, but essential for a profound understanding of the Earth system and its response to change.

The Role of Research in Online Curriculum Development: The Case of "EarthLabs" Climate Change and Earth System Modules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeal, Karen S.; Libarkin, Julie C.; Ledley, Tamara Shapiro; Bardar, Erin; Haddad, Nick; Elins, Kathy; Dutta, Saranee

2014-01-01

This study reports on an effort to illustrate the coupling of educational research with ongoing curriculum development to promote effective and evidence-based online learning. The research findings have been used to inform the "EarthLabs" curriculum development team as they revise existing modules and create new modules, in order to…

The Race To Understand A Changing Planet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sellers, Piers J.

2012-01-01

The Earth's climate is changing rapidly. In some respects, the rate of change is outpacing the predictions of only a few years ago. The challenge to Earth Science is to put forward credible projections of possible future climates so that the public and policy makers can make science-based decisions about energy development strategies. Models, observations and experiments all play strong roles in improving knowledge and increasing confidence in our predictions. The models have progressed from simple, coarse-resolution descriptions of atmospheric dynamics and physics only twenty years ago, to full-up Earth System models (ESMs) that include complete descriptions of the oceans and cryosphere. It has been convincingly argued that such complexity - the construction of realistic "toy" Earth's - is necessary to address the complex processes involved in climate change, including not only the physical atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere, but also the carbon cycle - both its natural and anthropogenic components - and the biosphere. Observations, particularly satellite observations, have more or less kept pace with the demands of the modelers, being able to observe progressively more and different facets of the Earth system, but the global satellite fleet is in need of an overhaul very soon. Lastly, field experiments and process studies confront the models with facts and allow us to develop more sophisticated and accurate satellite data algorithms. The challenges facing our relatively small Earth and planetary science communities are considerable and the stakes are significant. The stakeholders, now numbering 7 billion but soon to be 10 billion, will be relying on our results and capabilitie's to guide them into the future.

The race to understand a changing planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sellers, P. J.

2012-12-01

The Earth's climate is changing rapidly. In some respects, the rate of change is outpacing the predictions of only a few years ago. The challenge to Earth Science is to put forward credible projections of possible future climates so that the public and policy makers can make science-based decisions about energy development strategies. Models, observations and experiments all play strong roles in improving knowledge and increasing confidence in our predictions. The models have progressed from simple, coarse-resolution descriptions of atmospheric dynamics and physics only twenty years ago, to full-up Earth System models (ESMs) that include complete descriptions of the oceans and cryosphere. It has been convincingly argued that such complexity - the construction of realistic "toy" Earths - is necessary to address the complex processes involved in climate change, including not only the physical atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere, but also the carbon cycle - both its natural and anthropogenic components - and the biosphere. Observations, particularly satellite observations, have more or less kept pace with the demands of the modelers, being able to observe progressively more and different facets of the Earth system, but the global satellite fleet is in need of an overhaul very soon. Lastly, field experiments and process studies confront the models with facts and allow us to develop more sophisticated and accurate satellite data algorithms. The challenges facing our relatively small Earth and planetary science communities are considerable and the stakes are significant. The stakeholders, now numbering 7 billion but soon to be 10 billion, will be relying on our results and capabilities to guide them into the future.

Regional Arctic System Model (RASM): A Tool to Advance Understanding and Prediction of Arctic Climate Change at Process Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maslowski, W.; Roberts, A.; Osinski, R.; Brunke, M.; Cassano, J. J.; Clement Kinney, J. L.; Craig, A.; Duvivier, A.; Fisel, B. J.; Gutowski, W. J., Jr.; Hamman, J.; Hughes, M.; Nijssen, B.; Zeng, X.

2014-12-01

The Arctic is undergoing rapid climatic changes, which are some of the most coordinated changes currently occurring anywhere on Earth. They are exemplified by the retreat of the perennial sea ice cover, which integrates forcing by, exchanges with and feedbacks between atmosphere, ocean and land. While historical reconstructions from Global Climate and Global Earth System Models (GC/ESMs) are in broad agreement with these changes, the rate of change in the GC/ESMs remains outpaced by observations. Reasons for that stem from a combination of coarse model resolution, inadequate parameterizations, unrepresented processes and a limited knowledge of physical and other real world interactions. We demonstrate the capability of the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM) in addressing some of the GC/ESM limitations in simulating observed seasonal to decadal variability and trends in the sea ice cover and climate. RASM is a high resolution, fully coupled, pan-Arctic climate model that uses the Community Earth System Model (CESM) framework. It uses the Los Alamos Sea Ice Model (CICE) and Parallel Ocean Program (POP) configured at an eddy-permitting resolution of 1/12° as well as the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) models at 50 km resolution. All RASM components are coupled via the CESM flux coupler (CPL7) at 20-minute intervals. RASM is an example of limited-area, process-resolving, fully coupled earth system model, which due to the additional constraints from lateral boundary conditions and nudging within a regional model domain facilitates detailed comparisons with observational statistics that are not possible with GC/ESMs. In this talk, we will emphasize the utility of RASM to understand sensitivity to variable parameter space, importance of critical processes, coupled feedbacks and ultimately to reduce uncertainty in arctic climate change projections.

Some Aspects of Evolution of Microbial Rock-Formation in the Earth's History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, V. G.

2018-01-01

Under a relatively constant system and morphology of microbiota, sedimentary rocks produced by microbial organisms (microbiolites) evolved intensively during the geological history of the Earth. The parameters that changed were the composition, extraction form, and formation environments.

Advanced Information Technology Investments at the NASA Earth Science Technology Office

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clune, T.; Seablom, M. S.; Moe, K.

2012-12-01

The NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) regularly makes investments for nurturing advanced concepts in information technology to enable rapid, low-cost acquisition, processing and visualization of Earth science data in support of future NASA missions and climate change research. In 2012, the National Research Council published a mid-term assessment of the 2007 decadal survey for future spacemissions supporting Earth science and applications [1]. The report stated, "Earth sciences have advanced significantly because of existing observational capabilities and the fruit of past investments, along with advances in data and information systems, computer science, and enabling technologies." The report found that NASA had responded favorably and aggressively to the decadal survey and noted the role of the recent ESTO solicitation for information systems technologies that partnered with the NASA Applied Sciences Program to support the transition into operations. NASA's future missions are key stakeholders for the ESTO technology investments. Also driving these investments is the need for the Agency to properly address questions regarding the prediction, adaptation, and eventual mitigation of climate change. The Earth Science Division has championed interdisciplinary research, recognizing that the Earth must be studied as a complete system in order toaddress key science questions [2]. Information technology investments in the low-mid technology readiness level (TRL) range play a key role in meeting these challenges. ESTO's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) program invests in higher risk / higher reward technologies that solve the most challenging problems of the information processing chain. This includes the space segment, where the information pipeline begins, to the end user, where knowledge is ultimatelyadvanced. The objectives of the program are to reduce the risk, cost, size, and development time of Earth Science space-based and ground-based systems, increase the accessibility and utility of science data, and to enable new observation measurements and information products. We will discuss the ESTO investment strategy for information technology development, the methods used to assess stakeholder needs and technology advancements, and technology partnerships to enhance the infusion for the resulting technology. We also describe specific investments and their potential impact on enabling NASA missions and scientific discovery. [1] "Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey", 2012: National Academies Press, http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13405 [2] "Responding to the Challenge of Climate and Environmental Change: NASA's Plan for a Climate-Centric Architecture for Earth Observations and Applications from Space", 2010: NASA Tech Memo, http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2010/07/01/Climate_Architecture_Final.pdf

Global Reach: A View of International Cooperation in NASA's Earth Science Enterprise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Improving life on Earth and understanding and protecting our home planet are foremost in the Vision and Mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA's Earth Science Enterprise end eavors to use the unique vantage point of space to study the Earth sy stem and improve the prediction of Earth system change. NASA and its international partners study Earth's land, atmosphere, ice, oceans, a nd biota and seek to provide objective scientific knowledge to decisi onmakers and scientists worldwide. This book describes NASA's extensi ve cooperation with its international partners.

NASA's future Earth observation plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeck, Steven P.; Paules, Granville E.; McCuistion Ramesh, J. D.

2004-11-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate, working with its domestic and international partners, provides accurate, objective scientific data and analysis to advance our understanding of Earth system processes. Learning more about these processes will enable improved prediction capability for climate, weather, and natural hazards. Earth interactions occur on a continuum of spatial and temporal scales ranging from short-term weather to long-term climate, and from local and regional to global. Quantitatively describing these changes means precisely measuring from space scores of biological and geophysical parameters globally. New missions that SMD will launch in the coming decade will complement the first series of the Earth Observing System. These next generation systematic measurement missions are being planned to extend or enhance the record of science-quality data necessary for understanding and predicting global change. These missions include the NPOESS Preparatory Project, Ocean Surface Topography Mission, Global Precipitation Measurement, Landsat Data Continuity Mission, and an aerosol polarimetry mission called Glory. New small explorer missions will make first of a kind Earth observations. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory will measure sources and sinks of carbon to help the Nation and the world formulate effective strategies to constrain the amount of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Aquarius will measure ocean surface salinity which is key to ocean circulation in the North Atlantic that produces the current era's mild climate in northern Europe. HYDROS will measure soil moisture globally. Soil moisture is critical to agriculture and to managing fresh water resources. NASA continues to design, develop and launch the Nation's civilian operational environmental satellites, in both polar and geostationary orbits, by agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA plans to develop an advanced atmospheric sounder, GIFTS, for geostationary orbit to facilitate continuous measurements of weather-related phenomena, improve "nowcasting" of extreme weather events, and measure important atmospheric gases. NASA is currently developing with its partners the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and the next-generation geostationary system, GOES-R. Future missions will migrate today's capabilities in low Earth orbit to higher orbits such as L1 and L2 to enable more continuous monitoring of changes in the Earth system with a smaller number of satellites.

An Agent-Based Interface to Terrestrial Ecological Forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golden, Keith; Nemani, Ramakrishna; Pang, Wanlin; Votava, Petr

2005-01-01

The latest generation of NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites has brought a new dimension to continuous monitoring of the living part of the Earth System, the biosphere. EOS data can now provide weekly global measures of vegetation productivity and ocean chlorophyll, and many related biophysical factors such as land cover changes or snowmelt rates. However, the highest economic value would come from forecasting impending conditions of the biosphere, to allow decision makers to mitigate dangers or exploit positive trends. NASA's strategic plan for the Earth Science Enterprise i d e n a s ecological forecasting as a focus for research. Ecological forecasting predicts the effects of changes in the physical, chemical and biological environment on ecosystem activity. Possible applications of such a system include predicting shortfalls or bumper crops of agricultural production, populations of threatened or invasive species or wildfire danger in time to allow improves preparation and logistical efficiency. Petabytes of remote sensing data are now available to help measure, understand and forecast changes in the Earth system, but using these data effectively can be surprisingly hard. The volume and variety of data files and formats are daunting. Simple data management activities, such as locating and transferring files, changing file formats, gridding point data, and scaling and reprojecting gridded data, can consume far more personnel time and resources than the actual data analysis. Some scientists commit to a particular data source or resolution just because using anything different would be more effort that it's worth. Better tools can help, but most of the tools developed to date are little more than shell scripts; they lack the flexibility to meet the diverse needs of users and are difficult to extend to handle changes in available data sources.

Effective geoscience pedagogy at the undergraduate level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warden, Kelsey

This investigation used constructivist pedagogical methods within the framework of an introductory level undergraduate geoscience course to gauge both the changes in attitude and cognition of students. Pedagogy was modified in the laboratory setting, but maintained in the lecture setting and homework. Curriculum was also maintained in the lecture, but was changed in the laboratory to emphasize the large concepts and systems stressed in Earth Science Literacy Principles. Student understanding of these concepts and systems was strengthened by factual knowledge, but recall and memorization were not the goal of the laboratory instruction. The overall goal of the study was to build student understanding more effectively than in previous semesters such that the students would become Earth Science literate adults. We hypothesized that a healthy comprehension of the connections between the human population and Earth's systems would lead to improved cognition and attitude toward Earth Science. This was tested using pre- and post-testing of attitudes via an anonymous survey on the first and last days of the laboratory, student responses to the end-of-course evaluations, and student performance on early-semester and late-semester content testing. The results support the hypotheses.

Linkages between the Urban Environment and Earth's Climate System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Jin, Menglin

2003-01-01

Urbanization is one of the extreme cases of land use change. Although currently only 1.2% of the land is considered urban, the spatial coverage and density of cities are expected to rapidly increase in the near future. It is estimated that by the year 2025 60% of the world s population will live in cities (UNFP, 1999). Though urban areas are local in scale, human activity in urban environments has impacts at local, to global scale by changing atmospheric composition; impacting components of the water cycle; and modifying the carbon cycle 2nd ecosystems. For example, urban dwellers are undoubtedly familiar with "high" ozone pollution days, flash flooding in city streets, or heat stress on summer days. However, our understanding of urbanization on the total Earth-climate system is incomplete. Better understanding of how the Earth s weather, oceans, and land work together and the influence of the urban environment on this climate system is critical. This paper highlights some of the major and current issues involving interactions between urban environments and the Earth's climate system. It also captures some of the most current thinking and findings of the authors and key experts in the field.

Advanced technology needs for a global change science program: Perspective of the Langley Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowell, Lawrence F.; Swissler, Thomas J.

1991-01-01

The focus of the NASA program in remote sensing is primarily the Earth system science and the monitoring of the Earth global changes. One of NASA's roles is the identification and development of advanced sensing techniques, operational spacecraft, and the many supporting technologies necessary to meet the stringent science requirements. Langley Research Center has identified the elements of its current and proposed advanced technology development program that are relevant to global change science according to three categories: sensors, spacecraft, and information system technologies. These technology proposals are presented as one-page synopses covering scope, objective, approach, readiness timeline, deliverables, and estimated funding. In addition, the global change science requirements and their measurement histories are briefly discussed.

Virtual Earth System Laboratory (VESL): Effective Visualization of Earth System Data and Process Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, J. D.; Larour, E. Y.; Cheng, D. L. C.; Halkides, D. J.

2016-12-01

The Virtual Earth System Laboratory (VESL) is a Web-based tool, under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and UC Irvine, for the visualization of Earth System data and process simulations. It contains features geared toward a range of applications, spanning research and outreach. It offers an intuitive user interface, in which model inputs are changed using sliders and other interactive components. Current capabilities include simulation of polar ice sheet responses to climate forcing, based on NASA's Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). We believe that the visualization of data is most effective when tailored to the target audience, and that many of the best practices for modern Web design/development can be applied directly to the visualization of data: use of negative space, color schemes, typography, accessibility standards, tooltips, etc cetera. We present our prototype website, and invite input from potential users, including researchers, educators, and students.

Integrating the Earth, Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences at Millersville University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, R. D.

2005-12-01

For nearly 40 years, the Department of Earth Sciences at Millersville University (MU-DES) of Pennsylvania has been preparing students for careers in the earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences by providing a rigorous and comprehensive curricula leading to B.S. degrees in geology, meteorology, and oceanography. Undergraduate research is a hallmark of these earth sciences programs with over 30 students participating in some form of meritorious research each year. These programs are rich in applied physics, couched in mathematics, and steeped in technical computing and computer languages. Our success is measured by the number of students that find meaningful careers or go on to earn graduate degrees in their respective fields, as well as the high quality of faculty that the department has retained over the years. Student retention rates in the major have steadily increased with the introduction of a formal learning community and peer mentoring initiatives, and the number of new incoming freshmen and transfer students stands at an all-time high. Yet until recently, the disciplines have remained largely disparate with only minor inroads made into integrating courses that seek to address the Earth as a system. This is soon to change as the MU-DES unveils a new program leading to a B.S. in Integrated Earth Systems. The B.S. in Integrated Earth Systems (ISS) is not a reorganization of existing courses to form a marketable program. Instead, it is a fully integrated program two years in development that borrows from the multi-disciplinary backgrounds and experiences of faculty, while bringing in resources that are tailored to visualizing and modeling the Earth system. The result is the creation of a cross-cutting curriculum designed to prepare the 21st century student for the challenges and opportunities attending the holistic study of the Earth as a system. MU-DES will continue to offer programs leading to degrees in geology, meteorology, and ocean science, but in addition, the B.S. in Integrated Earth Systems will serve those students who find excitement at the boundaries of these disciplines, and prepare them for careers in this emerging field. The ISS program will target high school students of the highest caliber who demonstrate strong aptitude in mathematics and the physical sciences, who will need a minimum amount of remedial work. These select students will be exposed to courses in Earth Systems: Cycles and Interactions, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Air-Sea Interaction, Boundary Layers and Turbulence, Climate Variability and Global Change, Atmosphere-Ocean Modeling, Solar-Terrestrial Interactions, Weather Systems Science, Earth Observing Systems, Remote Sensing and more, as part of the ISS curriculum. This paper will highlight the MU-DES programs and learning initiatives and expand and elaborate on the new program in ISS.

Observed tidal braking in the earth/moon/sun system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christodoulidis, D. C.; Smith, D. E.; Williamson, R. G.; Klosko, S. M.

1988-01-01

The low degree and order terms in the spherical harmonic model of the tidal potential were observed through the perturbations which are induced on near-earth satellite orbital motions. Evaluations of tracking observations from 17 satellites and a GEM-T1 geopotential model were used in the tidal recovery which was made in the presence of over 600 long-wavelength coefficients from 32 major and minor tides. Wahr's earth tidal model was used as a basis for the recovery of the ocean tidal terms. Using this tidal model, the secular change in the moon's mean motion due to tidal dissipation was found to be -25.27 + or - 0.61 arcsec/century-squared. The estimation of lunar acceleration agreed with that observed from lunar laser ranging techniques (-24.9 + or - 1.0 arcsec/century-squared), with the corresponding tidal braking of earth's rotation being -5.98 + or - 0.22 X 10 to the -22 rad/second-squared. If the nontidal braking of the earth due to the observed secular change in the earth's second zonal harmonic is considered, satellite techniques yield a total value of the secular change in the earth's rotation rate of -4.69 + or - 0.36 X 10 to the -22 rad/second-squared.

Redesigning NASA Earthdata to Become Powered by EOSDIS Components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagwell, R.; Siarto, J.; Wong, M. M.; Murphy, K. J.; McLaughlin, B. D.

2014-12-01

Two years ago, NASA's Earth Science Data and Information Systems (ESDIS) Project launched the Earthdata website (https://earthdata.nasa.gov) in order to make Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data, data products, data tools, and services available to a broad range of user communities across Earth science disciplines to foster collaboration and learning amongst the communities. Earthdata is being redesigned to be the one-stop shop in providing Earth science data, services, and information to the Earth science community. The goal is to move from the current static, manually-intensive content format to a dynamic, data-driven website in order to provide a more flexible and usable design website infrastructure that leverages EOSDIS components such as the User Registration System (URS), the Common Metadata Repository (CMR) and the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS). This will reorganize information content to make the website easier to use and to make easily accessible the high-value Earth science content throughout the site. The website will also easily accept and incorporate upcoming new projects such as the Earthdata Search Client and the Sea Level Change Portal.

Earth Observing System: Science Objectives and Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

1999-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. In this presentation we review the key areas of scientific uncertainty in understanding climate and global change, and follow that with a description of the EOS goals, objectives, and scientific research elements that comprise the program (instrument science teams and interdisciplinary investigations). Finally, I will describe how scientists and policy makers intend to use EOS data improve our understanding of key global change uncertainties, such as: (i) clouds and radiation, including fossil fuel and natural emissions of sulfate aerosol and its potential impact on cloud feedback, (ii) man's impact on ozone depletion, with examples of ClO and O3 obtained from the UARS satellite during the Austral Spring, and (iii) volcanic eruptions and their impact on climate, with examples from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.

47 CFR 25.118 - Modifications not requiring prior authorization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., notification required. Authorized earth station operators may make the following modifications to their... electronically through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) in accordance with the applicable provisions... electrically identical to the existing equipment, an authorized earth station licensee may add, change or...

47 CFR 25.118 - Modifications not requiring prior authorization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., notification required. Authorized earth station operators may make the following modifications to their... electronically through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) in accordance with the applicable provisions... electrically identical to the existing equipment, an authorized earth station licensee may add, change or...

47 CFR 25.118 - Modifications not requiring prior authorization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., notification required. Authorized earth station operators may make the following modifications to their... electronically through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) in accordance with the applicable provisions... electrically identical to the existing equipment, an authorized earth station licensee may add, change or...

47 CFR 25.118 - Modifications not requiring prior authorization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., notification required. Authorized earth station operators may make the following modifications to their... electronically through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) in accordance with the applicable provisions... electrically identical to the existing equipment, an authorized earth station licensee may add, change or...

47 CFR 25.118 - Modifications not requiring prior authorization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., notification required. Authorized earth station operators may make the following modifications to their... electronically through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) in accordance with the applicable provisions... electrically identical to the existing equipment, an authorized earth station licensee may add, change or...

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: 1998 Education Catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This catalog presents a reference guide to NASA Earth science education programs and products. The topics include: 1) Student Support (Elementary and Secondary, Undergraduate and Graduate, Postgraduate, and Postdoctorate); 2) Teacher/Faculty Preparation and Enhancement; 3) Systemic Change; 4) Curriculum Support; and 5) Resources.

The Blueprint for Change: A National Strategy to Enhance Access to Earth and Space Science Education Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geary, E. E.; Barstow, D.

2001-12-01

Enhancing access to high quality science education resources for teachers, students, and the general public is a high priority for the earth and space science education communities. However, to significantly increase access to these resources and promote their effective use will require a coordinated effort between content developers, publishers, professional developers, policy makers, and users in both formal and informal education settings. Federal agencies, academic institutions, professional societies, informal science centers, the Digital Library for Earth System Education, and other National SMETE Digital Library Projects are anticipated to play key roles in this effort. As a first step to developing a coordinated, national strategy for developing and delivering high quality earth and space science education resources to students, teachers, and the general public, 65 science educators, scientists, teachers, administrators, policy makers, and business leaders met this June in Snowmass, Colorado to create "Earth and Space Science Education 2010: A Blueprint for Change". The Blueprint is a strategy document that will be used to guide Earth and space science education reform efforts in grades K-12 during the next decade. The Blueprint contains specific goals, recommendations, and strategies for coordinating action in the areas of: Teacher Preparation and Professional Development, Curriculum and Materials, Equity and Diversity, Assessment and Evaluation, Public Policy and Systemic Reform, Public and Informal Education, Partnerships and Collaborations, and Technology. If you develop, disseminate, or use exemplary earth and space science education resources, we invite you to review the Blueprint for Change, share it with your colleagues and local science educators, and join as we work to revolutionize earth and space science education in grades K-12.

A global assessment of gross and net land change dynamics for current conditions and future scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, Richard; Prestele, Reinhard; Verburg, Peter H.

2018-05-01

The consideration of gross land changes, meaning all area gains and losses within a pixel or administrative unit (e.g. country), plays an essential role in the estimation of total land changes. Gross land changes affect the magnitude of total land changes, which feeds back to the attribution of biogeochemical and biophysical processes related to climate change in Earth system models. Global empirical studies on gross land changes are currently lacking. Whilst the relevance of gross changes for global change has been indicated in the literature, it is not accounted for in future land change scenarios. In this study, we extract gross and net land change dynamics from large-scale and high-resolution (30-100 m) remote sensing products to create a new global gross and net change dataset. Subsequently, we developed an approach to integrate our empirically derived gross and net changes with the results of future simulation models by accounting for the gross and net change addressed by the land use model and the gross and net change that is below the resolution of modelling. Based on our empirical data, we found that gross land change within 0.5° grid cells was substantially larger than net changes in all parts of the world. As 0.5° grid cells are a standard resolution of Earth system models, this leads to an underestimation of the amount of change. This finding contradicts earlier studies, which assumed gross land changes to appear in shifting cultivation areas only. Applied in a future scenario, the consideration of gross land changes led to approximately 50 % more land changes globally compared to a net land change representation. Gross land changes were most important in heterogeneous land systems with multiple land uses (e.g. shifting cultivation, smallholder farming, and agro-forestry systems). Moreover, the importance of gross changes decreased over time due to further polarization and intensification of land use. Our results serve as an empirical database for land change dynamics that can be applied in Earth system models and integrated assessment models.

1999-2003 Shortwave Characterizations of Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS)/Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Broadband Active Cavity Radiometer Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Robert B., III; Smith, George L.; Wong, Takmeng

2008-01-01

From October 1984 through May 2005, the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS/ )/Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)ERBE nonscanning active cavity radiometers (ACR) were used to monitor long-term changes in the earth radiation budget components of the incoming total solar irradiance (TSI), earth-reflected TSI, and earth-emitted outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). From September1984 through September 1999, using on-board calibration systems, the ERBS/ERBE ACR sensor response changes, in gains and offsets, were determined from on-orbit calibration sources and from direct observations of the incoming TSI through calibration solar ports at measurement precision levels approaching 0.5 W/sq m , at satellite altitudes. On October 6, 1999, the onboard radiometer calibration system elevation drive failed. Thereafter, special spacecraft maneuvers were performed to observe cold space and the sun in order to define the post-September 1999 geometry of the radiometer measurements, and to determine the October 1999-September 2003 ERBS sensor response changes. Analyses of these special solar and cold space observations indicate that the radiometers were pointing approximately 16 degrees away from the spacecraft nadir and on the anti-solar side of the spacecraft. The special observations indicated that the radiometers responses were stable at precision levels approaching 0.5 W/sq m . In this paper, the measurement geometry determinations and the determinations of the radiometers gain and offset are presented, which will permit the accurate processing of the October 1999 through September 2003 ERBE data products at satellite and top-of-the-atmosphere altitudes.

Insights on How NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Monitors Our World Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2000-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, four EOS science missions were launched, representing observations of (1) total solar irradiance, (2) Earth radiation budget, (3) land cover and land use change, (4) ocean processes (vector wind, sea surface temperature, and ocean color), (5) atmospheric processes (aerosol and cloud properties, water vapor, and temperature and moisture profiles), and (6) tropospheric chemistry. In succeeding years many more satellites will be launched that will contribute immeasurably to our understanding of the Earth's environment. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine land use and natural hazards, environmental air quality, including dust storms over the world's deserts, cloud and radiation properties, sea surface temperature, and winds over the ocean.

Depending on Partnerships to Manage NASA's Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behnke, J.; Lindsay, F. E.; Lowe, D. R.

2015-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's.The data collected by NASA's remote sensing instruments represent a significant public investment in research, providing access to a world-wide public research community. From the beginning, NASA employed a free, open and non-discriminatory data policy to maximize the global utilization of the products derived from NASA's observational data and related analyses. EOSDIS is designed to ingest, process, archive, and distribute data in a multi-mission environment. The system supports a wide variety of Earth science disciplines, including cryosphere, land cover change, radiation budget, atmosphere dynamics and composition, as well as inter-disciplinary research, including global climate change. To this end, EOSDIS has collocated NASA Earth science data and processing with centers of science discipline expertise located at universities, other government agencies and NASA centers. Commercial industry is also part of this partnership as it focuses on developing the EOSDIS cross-element infrastructure. The partnership to develop and operate EOSDIS has made for a robust, flexible system that evolves continuously to take advantage of technological opportunities. The centralized entrance point to the NASA Earth Science data collection can be found at http://earthdata.nasa.gov. A distributed architecture was adopted to ensure discipline-specific support for the science data, while also leveraging standards and establishing policies and tools to enable interdisciplinary research, and analysis across multiple instruments. Today's EOSDIS is a loosely coupled, yet heterogeneous system designed to meet the requirements of both a diverse user community and a growing collection of data to be archived and distributed. The system was scaled to expand to meet the ever-growing volume of data (currently ~10 petabytes), and the exponential increase in user demand that has occurred over the past 15 years. We will present how the EOSDIS has relies on partnerships to support the challenges of managing NASA's Earth Science data.

EOS Operations Systems: EDOS Implemented Changes to Reduce Operations Costs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cordier, Guy R.; Gomez-Rosa, Carlos; McLemore, Bruce D.

2007-01-01

The authors describe in this paper the progress achieved to-date with the reengineering of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Operations System (EDOS), the experience gained in the process and the ensuing reduction of ground systems operations costs. The reengineering effort included a major methodology change, applying to an existing schedule driven system, a data-driven system approach.

Universities Earth System Scientists Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estes, John E.

1995-01-01

This document constitutes the final technical report for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Grant NAGW-3172. This grant was instituted to provide for the conduct of research under the Universities Space Research Association's (USRA's) Universities Earth System Scientist Program (UESSP) for the Office of Mission to Planet Earth (OMTPE) at NASA Headquarters. USRA was tasked with the following requirements in support of the Universities Earth System Scientists Programs: (1) Bring to OMTPE fundamental scientific and technical expertise not currently resident at NASA Headquarters covering the broad spectrum of Earth science disciplines; (2) Conduct basic research in order to help establish the state of the science and technological readiness, related to NASA issues and requirements, for the following, near-term, scientific uncertainties, and data/information needs in the areas of global climate change, clouds and radiative balance, sources and sinks of greenhouse gases and the processes that control them, solid earth, oceans, polar ice sheets, land-surface hydrology, ecological dynamics, biological diversity, and sustainable development; (3) Evaluate the scientific state-of-the-field in key selected areas and to assist in the definition of new research thrusts for missions, including those that would incorporate the long-term strategy of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). This will, in part, be accomplished by study and evaluation of the basic science needs of the community as they are used to drive the development and maintenance of a global-scale observing system, the focused research studies, and the implementation of an integrated program of modeling, prediction, and assessment; and (4) Produce specific recommendations and alternative strategies for OMTPE that can serve as a basis for interagency and national and international policy on issues related to Earth sciences.

U.S. Geological Survey Library classification system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sasscer, R. Scott

2000-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey Library classification system has been designed for earth science libraries. It is a tool for assigning call numbers to earth science and allied pure science materials in order to collect these materials into related subject groups on the library shelves and arrange them alphabetically by author and title. The classification can be used as a retrieval system to access materials through the subject and geographic numbers.The classification scheme has been developed over the years since 1904 to meet the ever-changing needs of increased specialization and the development of new areas of research in the earth sciences. The system contains seven schedules: Subject scheduleGeological survey schedule Earth science periodical scheduleGovernment document periodical scheduleGeneral science periodical schedule Earth science map schedule Geographic schedule Introduction provides detailed instructions on the construction of call numbers for works falling into the framework of the classification schedules.The tables following the introduction can be quickly accessed through the use of the newly expanded subject index.The purpose of this publication is to provide the earth science community with a classification and retrieval system for earth science materials, to offer sufficient explanation of its structure and use, and to enable library staff and clientele to classify or access research materials in a library collection.

The evolution of complex and higher organisms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Milne, D. (Editor); Raup, D. (Editor); Billingham, J. (Editor); Niklaus, K. (Editor); Padian, K. (Editor)

1985-01-01

The evolution of Phanerozoic life has probably been influenced by extraterrestrial events and properties of the Earth-Moon system that have not, until now, been widely recognized. Tide range, gravitational strength, the Earth's axial tilt, and other planetary properties provide background conditions whose effects on evolution may be difficult to distinguish. Solar flares, asteroid impacts, supernovae, and passage of the solar system through galactic clouds can provide catastrophic changes on the Earth with consequent characteristic extinctions. Study of the fossil record and the evolution of complex Phanerozoic life can reveal evidence of past disturbances in space near the Earth. Conversely, better understanding of environmental influences caused by extraterrestrial factors and properties of the solar system can clarify aspects of evolution, and may aid in visualizing life on other planets with different properties.

Teaching About the Sun-Earth Connection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poland, Arthur I.; Fisher, Richard R. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This talk will be about the Sun: how it changes with time, its magnetic cycle, flares, and the solar wind. The solar wind and what space is like between the Sun and Earth will be presented. Also, the Earth, its magnetic field, how the solar wind interacts with the Earth, Aurora, and how these affect human systems will be discussed. These interactions dictate how we build our systems in space (communications satellites, GPS, etc), and some of our ground systems (power grids). Some simple classroom activities will be presented that can be done using new data from space that is available daily on the internet, and how you can use the internet to get space questions answered within about 1 day. Finally, some career opportunities for jobs related to space for the future will be discussed.

Native American Students' Understanding of Geologic Time Scale: 4th-8th Grade Ojibwe Students' Understanding of Earth's Geologic History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nam, Younkyeong; Karahan, Engin; Roehrig, Gillian

2016-01-01

Geologic time scale is a very important concept for understanding long-term earth system events such as climate change. This study examines forty-three 4th-8th grade Native American--particularly Ojibwe tribe--students' understanding of relative ordering and absolute time of Earth's significant geological and biological events. This study also…

The highlights of 1989

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

Activity of the Earth Science and Application Division in 1989 is reported. On overview of the work of Division is presented, and the main changes in previously announced flight schedules are noted. The following subject areas are covered: the Earth Observing System; studies of the stratospheric ozone; U.S.-U.S.S.R. collaboration in Earth sciences; cloud climatology and the radiation budget; studies of ocean color; global tropospheric chemistry studies; first ISLSCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) field experiment; and solid Earth science research plan.

The Earth Science Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeberl, Mark; Rychekewkitsch, Michael; Andrucyk, Dennis; McConaughy, Gail; Meeson, Blanche; Hildebrand, Peter; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise's long range vision is to enable the development of a national proactive environmental predictive capability through targeted scientific research and technological innovation. Proactive environmental prediction means the prediction of environmental events and their secondary consequences. These consequences range from disasters and disease outbreak to improved food production and reduced transportation, energy and insurance costs. The economic advantage of this predictive capability will greatly outweigh the cost of development. Developing this predictive capability requires a greatly improved understanding of the earth system and the interaction of the various components of that system. It also requires a change in our approach to gathering data about the earth and a change in our current methodology in processing that data including its delivery to the customers. And, most importantly, it requires a renewed partnership between NASA and its sister agencies. We identify six application themes that summarize the potential of proactive environmental prediction. We also identify four technology themes that articulate our approach to implementing proactive environmental prediction.

The CEOS Atmospheric Composition Constellation: Enhancing the Value of Space-Based Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckman, Richard; Zehner, Claus; Al-Saadi, Jay

2015-01-01

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) coordinates civil space-borne observations of the Earth. Participating agencies strive to enhance international coordination and data exchange and to optimize societal benefit. In recent years, CEOS has collaborated closely with the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in implementing the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) space-based objectives. The goal of the CEOS Atmospheric Composition Constellation (ACC) is to collect and deliver data to improve monitoring, assessment and predictive capabilities for changes in the ozone layer, air quality and climate forcing associated with changes in the environment through coordination of existing and future international space assets. A project to coordinate and enhance the science value of a future constellation of geostationary sensors measuring parameters relevant to air quality supports the forthcoming European Sentinel-4, Korean GEMS, and US TEMPO missions. Recommendations have been developed for harmonization to mutually improve data quality and facilitate widespread use of the data products.

Dynamics of global vegetation biomass simulated by the integrated Earth System Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, J.; Shi, X.; Di Vittorio, A. V.; Thornton, P. E.; Piao, S.; Yang, X.; Truesdale, J. E.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Chini, L. P.; Thomson, A. M.; Hurtt, G. C.; Collins, W.; Edmonds, J.

2014-12-01

The global vegetation biomass stores huge amounts of carbon and is thus important to the global carbon budget (Pan et al., 2010). For the past few decades, different observation-based estimates and modeling of biomass in the above- and below-ground vegetation compartments have been comprehensively conducted (Saatchi et al., 2011; Baccini et al., 2012). However, uncertainties still exist, in particular for the simulation of biomass magnitude, tendency, and the response of biomass to climatic conditions and natural and human disturbances. The recently successful coupling of the integrated Earth System Model (iESM) (Di Vittorio et al., 2014; Bond-Lamberty et al., 2014), which links the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), Global Land-use Model (GLM), and Community Earth System Model (CESM), offers a great opportunity to understand the biomass-related dynamics in a fully-coupled natural and human modeling system. In this study, we focus on the systematic analysis and evaluation of the iESM simulated historical (1850-2005) and future (2006-2100) biomass changes and the response of the biomass dynamics to various impact factors, in particular the human-induced Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC). By analyzing the iESM simulations with and without the interactive LULCC feedbacks, we further study how and where the climate feedbacks affect socioeconomic decisions and LULCC, such as to alter vegetation carbon storage. References Pan Y et. al: A large and persistent carbon sink in the World's forests. Science 2011, 333:988-993. Saatchi SS et al: Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2011, 108:9899-9904. Baccini A et al: Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from tropical deforestation improved by carbon-density maps. Nature Clim Change 2012, 2:182-185. Di Vittorio AV et al: From land use to land cover: restoring the afforestation signal in a coupled integrated assessment-earth system model and the implications for CMIP5 RCP simulations. Biogeosciences Discuss 2014, 11:7151-7188. Bond-Lamberty, B et al: Coupling earth system and integrated assessment models: The problem of steady state. Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss 2014, 7: 1499-1524, doi:10.5194/gmdd-7-1499-2014.

An Overview of the Future Development of Climate and Earth System Models for Scientific and Policy Use (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Washington, W. M.

2010-12-01

The development of climate and earth system models has been regarded primarily as the making of scientific tools to study the complex nature of the Earth’s climate. These models have a long history starting with very simple physical models based on fundamental physics in the 1960s and over time they have become much more complex with atmospheric, ocean, sea ice, land/vegetation, biogeochemical, glacial and ecological components. The policy use aspects of these models did not start in the 1960s and 1970s as decision making tools but were used to answer fundamental scientific questions such as what happens when the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases or is doubled. They gave insights into the various interactions and were extensively compared with observations. It was realized that models of the earlier time periods could only give first order answers to many of the fundamental policy questions. As societal concerns about climate change rose, the policy questions of anthropogenic climate change became better defined; they were mostly concerned with the climate impacts of increasing greenhouse gases, aerosols, and land cover change. In the late 1980s, the United Nations set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to perform assessments of the published literature. Thus, the development of climate and Earth system models became intimately linked to the need to not only improve our scientific understanding but also answering fundamental policy questions. In order to meet this challenge, the models became more complex and realistic so that they could address these policy oriented science questions such as rising sea level. The presentation will discuss the past and future development of global climate and earth system models for science and policy purposes. Also to be discussed is their interactions with economic integrated assessment models, regional and specialized models such as river transport or ecological components. As an example of one development pathway, the NSF/Department of Energy supported Community Climate System and Earth System Models will be featured in the presentation. Computational challenges will also part of the discussion.

SweepSAR Sensor Technology for Dense Spatial and Temporal Coverage of Earth Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosen, P. A.

2016-12-01

Since the 2007 National Academy of Science "Decadal Survey" report, NASA has been studying concepts for a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission to determine Earth change in three disciplines - ecosystems, solid earth, and cryospheric sciences. NASA has joined forces with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to fulfill these objectives. The NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) mission is now in development for a launch in 2021. The mission's primary science objectives are codified in a set of science requirements to study Earth land and ice deformation, and ecosystems, globally with 12-day sampling over all land and ice-covered surfaces throughout the mission life. The US and Indian science teams share global science objectives; in addition, India has developed a set of local objectives in agricultural biomass estimation, Himalayan glacier characterization, and coastal ocean measurements in and around India. Both the US and India have identified agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response as high priority applications for the mission. With this range of science and applications objectives, NISAR has demanding coverage, sampling, and accuracy requirements. The system requires a swath of over 240 km at 3-10 m SAR imaging resolution, using full polarimetry where needed. Given the broad range of phenomena and wide range of sensitivities needed, NISAR carries two radars, one operating at L-band (24 cm wavelength) and the other at S-band (10 cm wavelength). The system uses a new "scan-on-receive" ("SweepSAR") technology at both L-band and S-band, that enables full swath coverage without loss of resolution or polarimetric diversity. Both radars can operate simultaneously. The L-band system is being designed to operate up to 50 minutes per orbit, and the S-band system up to 10 minutes per orbit. The orbit will be controlled to within 300 m for repeat-pass interferometry measurements. This unprecedented coverage in space, time, polarimetry, and frequency, will add a new and rich data set to the international constellation of sensors studying Earth surface change. In this talk, we will describe the mission's expected contributions to geodetic imaging in support of time-series analysis of dynamic changes of Earth's surface.

Incorporating agricultural management into an earth system model for the Pacific Northwest region: Interactions between climate, hydrology, agriculture, and economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chinnayakanahalli, K.; Adam, J. C.; Stockle, C.; Nelson, R.; Brady, M.; Rajagopalan, K.; Barber, M. E.; Dinesh, S.; Malek, K.; Yorgey, G.; Kruger, C.; Marsh, T.; Yoder, J.

2011-12-01

For better management and decision making in the face of climate change, earth system models must explicitly account for natural resource and agricultural management activities. Including crop system, water management, and economic models into an earth system modeling framework can help in answering questions related to the impacts of climate change on irrigation water and crop productivity, how agricultural producers can adapt to anticipated climate change, and how agricultural practices can mitigate climate change. Herein we describe the coupling of the Variability Infiltration Capacity (VIC) land surface model, which solves the water and energy balances of the hydrologic cycle at regional scales, with a crop-growth model, CropSyst. This new model, VIC-CropSyst, is the land surface model that will be used in a new regional-scale model development project focused on the Pacific Northwest, termed BioEarth. Here we describe the VIC-CropSyst coupling process and its application over the Columbia River basin (CRB) using agricultural-specific land cover information. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cropland data layers were used to identify agricultural land use patterns, in which both irrigated and dry land crops were simulated. The VIC-CropSyst model was applied over the CRB for the historical period of 1976 - 2006 to establish a baseline for surface water availability, irrigation demand, and crop production. The model was then applied under future (2030s) climate change scenarios derived from statistically-downscaled Global Circulation Models output under two emission scenarios (A1B and B1). Differences between simulated future and historical irrigation demand, irrigation water availability, and crop production were used in an economics model to identify the most economically-viable future cropping pattern. The economics model was run under varying scenarios of regional growth, trade, water pricing, and water capacity providing a spectrum of possible future cropping patterns. The resulting cropping patterns were then used in VIC-CropSyst to quantify the impacts of climate change, economic, and water management scenarios on crop production, and water resources availability. This modeling framework provides opportunities to study the interactions between human activities and complex natural processes and is a valuable tool for inclusion in an earth system model with the goal of informing land use and water management.

Quantifying Impacts of Land-use and Land Cover Change in a Changing Climate at the Regional Scale using an Integrated Earth System Modeling Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, M.

2016-12-01

Earth System models (ESMs) are effective tools for investigating the water-energy-food system interactions under climate change. In this presentation, I will introduce research efforts at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory towards quantifying impacts of LULCC on the water-energy-food nexus in a changing climate using an integrated regional Earth system modeling framework: the Platform for Regional Integrated Modeling and Analysis (PRIMA). Two studies will be discussed to showcase the capability of PRIMA: (1) quantifying changes in terrestrial hydrology over the Conterminous US (CONUS) from 2005 to 2095 using the Community Land Model (CLM) driven by high-resolution downscaled climate and land cover products from PRIMA, which was designed for assessing the impacts of and potential responses to climate and anthropogenic changes at regional scales; (2) applying CLM over the CONUS to provide the first county-scale model validation in simulating crop yields and assessing associated impacts on the water and energy budgets using CLM. The studies demonstrate the benefits of incorporating and coupling human activities into complex ESMs, and critical needs to account for the biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects of LULCC in climate impacts studies, and in designing mitigation and adaptation strategies at a scale meaningful for decision-making. Future directions in quantifying LULCC impacts on the water-energy-food nexus under a changing climate, as well as feedbacks among climate, energy production and consumption, and natural/managed ecosystems using an Integrated Multi-scale, Multi-sector Modeling framework will also be discussed.

An Earth system view on boundaries for human perturbation of the N and P cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cornell, Sarah; de Vries, Wim

2015-04-01

The appropriation and transformation of land, water, and living resources can alter Earth system functioning, and potentially undermine the basis for the sustainability of our societies. Human activities have greatly increased the flows of reactive forms of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the Earth system. These non-substitutable nutrient elements play a fundamental role in the human food system. Furthermore, the current mode of social and economic globalization, and its effect on the present-day energy system, also has large effects including large NOx-N emissions through combustion. Until now, this perturbation of N and P cycles has been treated largely as a local/regional issue, and managed in terms of direct impacts (water, land or air pollution). However, anthropogenic N and P cycle changes affect physical Earth system feedbacks (through greenhouse gas and aerosol changes) and biogeochemical feedbacks (via ecosystem changes, links to the carbon cycle, and altered nutrient limitation) with impacts that can be far removed from the direct sources. While some form of N and P management at the global level seems likely to be needed for continued societal development, the current local-level and sectorial management is often problematically simplistic, as seen in the tensions between divergent N management needs for climate change mitigation, air pollution control, food production, and ecosystem conservation. We require a step change in understanding complex biogeochemical, physical and socio-economic interactions in order to analyse these effects together, and inform policy trade-offs to minimize emergent systemic risks. Planetary boundaries for N and P cycle perturbation have recently been proposed. We discuss the current status of these precautionary boundaries and how we may improve on these preliminary assessments. We present an overview of the human perturbation of the global biogeochemical cycles of N and P and its interaction with the functioning of the Earth system. There are various N and P impacts, which vary in space and time and are associated with multiple human drivers. There are multiple possible constraints that need to be considered; for P there is an issue with absolute availability, but not for N. The societal benefits (e.g. food production) and environmental impacts (e.g. eutrophication) are linked through stoichiometry, which differs in terrestrial and aquatic systems, presenting challenges for any global optimization approach. By setting out these features, we can better assess how to apply and improve our current analytic frameworks, models, and data for safer navigation of the biogeochemical complexities of global sustainability.

The astysphere and urban geochemistry-a new approach to integrate urban systems into the geoscientific concept of spheres and a challenging concept of modern geochemistry supporting the sustainable development of planet earth.

PubMed

Norra, Stefan

2009-07-01

In 1875, the geoscientist Walter Suess introduced several spheres, such as the lithosphere and the atmosphere to promote a comprehensive understanding of the system earth. Since then, this idea became the dominating concept for the understanding of the distribution of chemical elements in the system earth. Meanwhile, due to the importance of human beings on global element fluxes, the term anthroposphere was introduced. Nevertheless, in face of the ongoing urbanization of the earth, this concept is not any more adequate enough to develop a comprehensive understanding of global element fluxes in and between solid, liquid, and gaseous phases. This article discusses a new concept integrating urbanization into the geoscientific concept of spheres. No geological exogenic force has altered the earth's surface during the last centuries in such an extent as human activity. Humans have altered the morphology and element balances of the earth by establishing agrosystems first and urban systems later. Currently, urban systems happen to become the main regulators for fluxes of many elements on a global scale due to ongoing industrial and economic development and a growing number of inhabitants. Additionally, urban systems are constantly expanding and cover more and more former natural and agricultural areas. For nature, urban systems are new phenomena, which never existed in previous geological eras. The process of the globe's urbanization concurrently is active with the global climate change. In fact, urban systems are a major emitter for climate active gases. Thus, beside the global changes in economy and society, urbanization is an important factor within the global change of nature as is already accepted for climate, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Due to the fact that urbanization has become a global process shaping the earth and that the urban systems are globally cross-linked among each other, a new geoscientific sphere has to be introduced: the astysphere. This sphere comprises the parts of the earth influenced by urban systems. Accepting urbanization as global ongoing process forming the astysphere comprehensively copes with the growing importance of urbanization on the creation of present geologic formations. Anthropogenic activities occur mainly in rural and urban environments. For long lasting periods of human history, human activities mainly were focused on hunting and agriculture, but since industrialization, urbanized areas became increasingly important for the material and energy fluxes of earth. Thus, it seems appropriate to classify the anthroposphere into an agriculturally and an urban-dominated sphere, which are the agrosphere (Krishna 2003) and the astysphere (introduced by Norra 2007). We have to realize that urban systems are deposits, consumers, and transformers of resources interacting among each other and forming a network around the globe. Since the future of human mankind depends on the sustainable use of available resources, only a global and holistic view of the cross-linked urban systems forming together the astysphere provide the necessary geoscientific background understanding for global urban material and energy fluxes. If we want to ensure worth-living conditions for future generations of mankind, we have to develop global models of the future needs for resources by the global metasystem of urban systems, called astysphere. The final vision for geoscientific research on the astysphere must be to design models describing the global process of urbanization of the earth and the development of the astysphere with respect to fluxes of materials, elements, and energy as well as with respect to the forming of the earth's face. Besides that, just from the viewpoint of fundamental research, the geoscientific concept of spheres has to be complemented by the astysphere if this concept shall fully represent the system earth.

Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diner, David J. (Principal Investigator)

MISR views the sunlit Earth simultaneously at nine widely spaced angles and provides ongoing global coverage with high spatial detail. Its imagery is carefully calibrated to provide accurate measures of the brightness, contrast, and color of reflected sunlight. MISR provides new types of information for scientists studying Earth's climate, such as the regional and global distribution of different types of atmospheric particles and aerosols. The change in reflection at different view angles provides the means to distinguish aerosol types, cloud forms, and land surface cover. Combined with stereoscopic techniques, this enables construction of 3-D cloud models and estimation of the total amount of sunlight reflected by Earth's diverse environments. MISR was built for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. It is part of NASA's first Earth Observing System (EOS) spacecraft, the Terra spacecraft, which was launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base on December 18, 1999. MISR has been continuously providing data since February 24, 2000. [Mission Objectives] The MISR instrument acquires systematic multi-angle measurements for global monitoring of top-of-atmosphere and surface albedos and for measuring the shortwave radiative properties of aerosols, clouds, and surface scenes in order to characterize their impact on the Earth's climate. The Earth's climate is constantly changing -- as a consequence of both natural processes and human activities. Scientists care a great deal about even small changes in Earth's climate, since they can affect our comfort and well-being, and possibly our survival. A few years of below-average rainfall, an unusually cold winter, or a change in emissions from a coal-burning power plant, can influence the quality of life of people, plants, and animals in the region involved. The goal of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is to increase our understanding of the climate changes that are occurring on our planet, and the reasons for these changes, so we are better equipped to anticipate and prepare for the future. The MISR instrument is a part of EOS. Its role is to measure the amount of sunlight scattered in different directions under natural conditions. These measurements will help quantify the amount of solar energy that heats the Earth's surface and atmosphere, and the changes that occur in them over the lifetime of the MISR instrument. From the MISR observations, we are also learning more about those components of the Earth's environment that scatter sunlight: particles in the atmosphere, the planet's surface, and clouds. MISR monitors changes in surface reflection properties, in atmospheric aerosol content and composition, and in cloudiness. Scientists use these data to study land use changes, air pollution, volcanic eruptions, as well as processes such as desertification, deforestation, and soil erosion. As part of the EOS program, computer models that predict future climate will be improved by the results of these studies. [Temporal_Coverage: Start_Date=2000-02-24; Stop_Date=] [Spatial_Coverage: Southernmost_Latitude=-90; Northernmost_Latitude=90; Westernmost_Longitude=-180; Easternmost_Longitude=180].

Microwave sensing technology issues related to a global change technology architecture trade study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Thomas G.; Shiue, Jim; Connolly, Denis; Woo, Ken

1991-01-01

The objectives are to enable the development of lighter and less power consuming, high resolution microwave sensors which will operate at frequencies from 1 to 200 GHz. These systems will use large aperture antenna systems (both reflector and phased arrays) capable of wide scan angle, high polarization purity, and utilize sidelobe suppression techniques as required. Essentially, the success of this technology program will enable high resolution microwave radiometers from geostationary orbit, lightweight and more efficient radar systems from low Earth orbit, and eliminate mechanical scanning methods to the fullest extent possible; a main source of platform instability in large space systems. The Global Change Technology Initiative (GCTI) will develop technology which will enable the use of satellite systems for Earth observations on a global scale.

Interactions of ice sheet evolution, sea level and GIA in a region of complex Earth structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez, N. A.; Chan, N. H.; Latychev, K.; Pollard, D.; Powell, E. M.

2017-12-01

Constraining glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) is challenging in Antarctica, where the solid Earth deformation, sea level changes and ice dynamics are strongly linked on all timescales. Furthermore, Earth structure beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet is characterized by significant lateral variability. A stable, thick craton exists in the east, while the west is underlain by a large continental rift system, with a relatively thin lithosphere and hot, low viscosity asthenosphere, as indicated by high resolution seismic tomography. This implies that in parts of the West Antarctic, the Earth's mantle may respond to surface loading on shorter than average (centennial, or even decadal) timescales. Accounting for lateral variations in viscoelastic Earth structure alters the timing and geometry of load-induced Earth deformation, which in turn impacts the timing and extent of the ice-sheet retreat via a sea-level feedback, as well as predictions of relative sea-level change and GIA. We explore the impact of laterally varying Earth structure on ice-sheet evolution, sea level change and Earth deformation in the Antarctic region since the Last Glacial Maximum using a newly developed coupled ice sheet - sea level model that incorporates 3-D variations in lithospheric thickness and mantle viscosity derived from recent seismic tomographic datasets. Our results focus on identifying the regions and time periods in which the incorporation of 3-D Earth structure is critical for accurate predictions of ice sheet evolution and interpretation of geological and geodetic observations. We also investigate the sensitivity to the regional Earth structure of the relative contributions to modern GIA predictions of Last Deglacial and more recent Holocene ice cover changes.

Global Change: A Biogeochemical Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcelroy, M.

1983-01-01

A research program that is designed to enhance our understanding of the Earth as the support system for life is described. The program change, both natural and anthropogenic, that might affect the habitability of the planet on a time scale roughly equal to that of a human life is studied. On this time scale the atmosphere, biosphere, and upper ocean are treated as a single coupled system. The need for understanding the processes affecting the distribution of essential nutrients--carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur, and water--within this coupled system is examined. The importance of subtle interactions among chemical, biological, and physical effects is emphasized. The specific objectives are to define the present state of the planetary life-support system; to ellucidate the underlying physical, chemical, and biological controls; and to provide the body of knowledge required to assess changes that might impact the future habitability of the Earth.

Satellite orbit considerations for a global change technology architecture trade study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrison, Edwin F.; Gibson, Gary G.; Suttles, John T.; Buglia, James J.; Taback, Israel

1991-01-01

A study was conducted to determine satellite orbits for earth observation missions aimed at obtaining data for assessing data global climate change. A multisatellite system is required to meet the scientific requirements for temporal coverage over the globe. The best system consists of four sun-synchronous satellites equally spaced in local time of equatorial crossing. This system can obtain data every three hours for all regions. Several other satellite systems consisting of combinations of sun-synchronous orbits and either the Space Station Freedom or a mid-altitude equatorial satellite can provide three to six hour temporal coverage, which is sufficient for measuring many of the parameters required for the global change monitoring mission. Geosynchronous satellites are required to study atmospheric and surface processes involving variations on the order of a few minutes to an hour. One or two geosynchronous satellites can be relocated in longitude to study processes over selected regions of earth.

Characterizing an Integrated Annual Global Measure of the Earth's Maximum Land Surface Temperatures from 2003 to 2012 Reveals Strong Biogeographic Influences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mildrexler, D. J.; Zhao, M.; Running, S. W.

2014-12-01

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is a good indicator of the surface energy balance because it is determined by interactions and energy fluxes between the atmosphere and the ground. The variability of land surface properties and vegetation densities across the Earth's surface changes these interactions and gives LST a unique biogeographic influence. Natural and human-induced disturbances modify the surface characteristics and alter the expression of LST. This results in a heterogeneous and dynamic thermal environment. Measurements that merge these factors into a single global metric, while maintaining the important biophysical and biogeographical factors of the land surface's thermal environment are needed to better understand integrated temperature changes in the Earth system. Using satellite-based LST we have developed a new global metric that focuses on one critical component of LST that occurs when the relationship between vegetation density and surface temperature is strongly coupled: annual maximum LST (LSTmax). A 10 year evaluation of LSTmax histograms that include every 1-km pixel across the Earth's surface reveals that this integrative measurement is strongly influenced by the biogeographic patterns of the Earth's ecosystems, providing a unique comparative view of the planet every year that can be likened to the Earth's thermal maximum fingerprint. The biogeographical component is controlled by the frequency and distribution of vegetation types across the Earth's land surface and displays a trimodal distribution. The three modes are driven by ice covered polar regions, forests, and hot desert/shrubland environments. In ice covered areas the histograms show that the heat of fusion results in a convergence of surface temperatures around the melting point. The histograms also show low interannual variability reflecting two important global land surface dynamics; 1) only a small fraction of the Earth's surface is disturbed in any given year, and 2) when considered at the global scale, the positive and negative climate forcings resulting from the aggregate effects of the loss of vegetation to disturbances and the regrowth from natural succession are roughly in balance. Changes in any component of the histogram can be tracked and would indicate a major change in the Earth system.

EOSDIS: Archive and Distribution Systems in the Year 2000

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne; Lake, Alla

2000-01-01

Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) is a long-term NASA research mission to study the processes leading to global climate change. The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a NASA campaign of satellite observatories that are a major component of ESE. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is another component of ESE that will provide the Earth science community with easy, affordable, and reliable access to Earth science data. EOSDIS is a distributed system, with major facilities at seven Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) located throughout the United States. The EOSDIS software architecture is being designed to receive, process, and archive several terabytes of science data on a daily basis. Thousands of science users and perhaps several hundred thousands of non-science users are expected to access the system. The first major set of data to be archived in the EOSDIS is from Landsat-7. Another EOS satellite, Terra, was launched on December 18, 1999. With the Terra launch, the EOSDIS will be required to support approximately one terabyte of data into and out of the archives per day. Since EOS is a multi-mission program, including the launch of more satellites and many other missions, the role of the archive systems becomes larger and more critical. In 1995, at the fourth convening of NASA Mass Storage Systems and Technologies Conference, the development plans for the EOSDIS information system and archive were described. Five years later, many changes have occurred in the effort to field an operational system. It is interesting to reflect on some of the changes driving the archive technology and system development for EOSDIS. This paper principally describes the Data Server subsystem including how the other subsystems access the archive, the nature of the data repository, and the mass-storage I/O management. The paper reviews the system architecture (both hardware and software) of the basic components of the archive. It discusses the operations concept, code development, and testing phase of the system. Finally, it describes the future plans for the archive.

Research priorities in land use and land-cover change for the Earth system and integrated assessment modelling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hibbard, Kathleen A.; Janetos, Anthony C.; Van Vuuren, Detlef

2010-11-15

This special issue has highlighted recent and innovative methods and results that integrate observations and AQ3 modelling analyses of regional to global aspect of biophysical and biogeochemical interactions of land-cover change with the climate system. Both the Earth System and the Integrated Assessment modeling communities recognize the importance of an accurate representation of land use and land-cover change to understand and quantify the interactions and feedbacks with the climate and socio-economic systems, respectively. To date, cooperation between these communities has been limited. Based on common interests, this work discusses research priorities in representing land use and land-cover change for improvedmore » collaboration across modelling, observing and measurement communities. Major research topics in land use and land-cover change are those that help us better understand (1) the interaction of land use and land cover with the climate system (e.g. carbon cycle feedbacks), (2) the provision of goods and ecosystem services by terrestrial (natural and anthropogenic) land-cover types (e.g. food production), (3) land use and management decisions and (4) opportunities and limitations for managing climate change (for both mitigation and adaptation strategies).« less

Gaia: The Implications for Industrialised Societies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunyard, Peter

1988-01-01

Many believe that life on Earth is part of a unified system. This article reviews the Gaia hypothesis and reviews the status of the Earth's ecology. Stressed is the impact of human activity on the ecosphere including acid rain, the greenhouse effect and other examples of climate change. (CW)

Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (sios): Facilitating Easy Access to Multidisciplinary Arctic Data Through the Brokering Approach.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bye, B. L.; Godøy, Ø.

2014-12-01

Environmental and climate changes are important elements of our global challenges. They are observed at a global scale and in particular in the Arctic. In order to give better estimates of the future changes, the Arctic has to be monitored and analyzed by a multi-disciplinary observation system that will improve Earth System Models. The best chance to achieve significant results within a relatively short time frame is found in regions with a large natural climate gradient, and where processes sensitive to the expected changes are particularly important. Svalbard and the surrounding ocean areas fulfil all these criteria. The vision for SIOS is to be a regional observational system for long term acquisition and proliferation of fundamental knowledge on global environmental change within an Earth System Science perspective in and around Svalbard. SIOS will systematically develop and implement methods for how observational networks are to be construed. The distributed SIOS data management system (SDMS) will be implemented through a combination of technologies tailored to the multi-disciplinary nature of the Arctic data. One of these technologies is The Brokering approach or "Framework". The Brokering approach provides a series of services such as discovery, access, transformation and semantics support to enable translation from one discipline/culture to another. This is exactly the challenges the SDMS will have to handle and thus the Brokering approach is integrated in the design of the system. A description of the design strategy for the SDMS that includes The Brokering approach will be presented. The design and implementation plans for the SDMS are based on research done in the EU funded ESFRI project SIOS and examples of solutions for interoperable systems producing Arctic datasets and products coordinated through SIOS will be showcased. The reported experience from SIOS brokering approach will feed into the process of developing a sustainable brokering governance in the framework of Research Data Alliance. It will also support the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). This is a contribution to increase our global capacity to create interoperable systems that provide multi-disciplinary dataset and products.

Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI): facing the challenges and pathways of global change in the twenty-first century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, Pavel; Shugart, Herman; Kicklighter, David; Henebry, Geoffrey; Tchebakova, Nadezhda; Maksyutov, Shamil; Monier, Erwan; Gutman, Garik; Gulev, Sergey; Qi, Jiaguo; Prishchepov, Alexander; Kukavskaya, Elena; Porfiriev, Boris; Shiklomanov, Alexander; Loboda, Tatiana; Shiklomanov, Nikolay; Nghiem, Son; Bergen, Kathleen; Albrechtová, Jana; Chen, Jiquan; Shahgedanova, Maria; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Speranskaya, Nina; Soja, Amber; de Beurs, Kirsten; Bulygina, Olga; McCarty, Jessica; Zhuang, Qianlai; Zolina, Olga

2017-12-01

During the past several decades, the Earth system has changed significantly, especially across Northern Eurasia. Changes in the socio-economic conditions of the larger countries in the region have also resulted in a variety of regional environmental changes that can have global consequences. The Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI) has been designed as an essential continuation of the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), which was launched in 2004. NEESPI sought to elucidate all aspects of ongoing environmental change, to inform societies and, thus, to better prepare societies for future developments. A key principle of NEFI is that these developments must now be secured through science-based strategies co-designed with regional decision-makers to lead their societies to prosperity in the face of environmental and institutional challenges. NEESPI scientific research, data, and models have created a solid knowledge base to support the NEFI program. This paper presents the NEFI research vision consensus based on that knowledge. It provides the reader with samples of recent accomplishments in regional studies and formulates new NEFI science questions. To address these questions, nine research foci are identified and their selections are briefly justified. These foci include warming of the Arctic; changing frequency, pattern, and intensity of extreme and inclement environmental conditions; retreat of the cryosphere; changes in terrestrial water cycles; changes in the biosphere; pressures on land use; changes in infrastructure; societal actions in response to environmental change; and quantification of Northern Eurasia's role in the global Earth system. Powerful feedbacks between the Earth and human systems in Northern Eurasia (e.g., mega-fires, droughts, depletion of the cryosphere essential for water supply, retreat of sea ice) result from past and current human activities (e.g., large-scale water withdrawals, land use, and governance change) and potentially restrict or provide new opportunities for future human activities. Therefore, we propose that integrated assessment models are needed as the final stage of global change assessment. The overarching goal of this NEFI modeling effort will enable evaluation of economic decisions in response to changing environmental conditions and justification of mitigation and adaptation efforts.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Supporting Interoperability through a Scalable Architecture (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, A. E.; Lowe, D. R.; Murphy, K. J.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2011-12-01

Initiated in 1990, NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is currently a petabyte-scale archive of data designed to receive, process, distribute and archive several terabytes of science data per day from NASA's Earth science missions. Comprised of 12 discipline specific data centers collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, EOSDIS manages over 6800 data products from many science disciplines and sources. NASA supports global climate change research by providing scalable open application layers to the EOSDIS distributed information framework. This allows many other value-added services to access NASA's vast Earth Science Collection and allows EOSDIS to interoperate with data archives from other domestic and international organizations. EOSDIS is committed to NASA's Data Policy of full and open sharing of Earth science data. As metadata is used in all aspects of NASA's Earth science data lifecycle, EOSDIS provides a spatial and temporal metadata registry and order broker called the EOS Clearing House (ECHO) that allows efficient search and access of cross domain data and services through the Reverb Client and Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs). Another core metadata component of EOSDIS is NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) which represents more than 25,000 Earth science data set and service descriptions from all over the world, covering subject areas within the Earth and environmental sciences. With inputs from the ECHO, GCMD and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission metadata models, EOSDIS is developing a NASA ISO 19115 Best Practices Convention. Adoption of an international metadata standard enables a far greater level of interoperability among national and international data products. NASA recently concluded a 'Metadata Harmony Study' of EOSDIS metadata capabilities/processes of ECHO and NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD), to evaluate opportunities for improved data access and use, reduce efforts by data providers and improve metadata integrity. The result was a recommendation for EOSDIS to develop a 'Common Metadata Repository (CMR)' to manage the evolution of NASA Earth Science metadata in a unified and consistent way by providing a central storage and access capability that streamlines current workflows while increasing overall data quality and anticipating future capabilities. For applications users interested in monitoring and analyzing a wide variety of natural and man-made phenomena, EOSDIS provides access to near real-time products from the MODIS, OMI, AIRS, and MLS instruments in less than 3 hours from observation. To enable interactive exploration of NASA's Earth imagery, EOSDIS is developing a set of standard services to deliver global, full-resolution satellite imagery in a highly responsive manner. EOSDIS is also playing a lead role in the development of the CEOS WGISS Integrated Catalog (CWIC), which provides search and access to holdings of participating international data providers. EOSDIS provides a platform to expose and share information on NASA Earth science tools and data via Earthdata.nasa.gov while offering a coherent and interoperable system for the NASA Earth Science Data System (ESDS) Program.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Supporting Interoperability through a Scalable Architecture (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, A. E.; Lowe, D. R.; Murphy, K. J.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2013-12-01

Initiated in 1990, NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is currently a petabyte-scale archive of data designed to receive, process, distribute and archive several terabytes of science data per day from NASA's Earth science missions. Comprised of 12 discipline specific data centers collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, EOSDIS manages over 6800 data products from many science disciplines and sources. NASA supports global climate change research by providing scalable open application layers to the EOSDIS distributed information framework. This allows many other value-added services to access NASA's vast Earth Science Collection and allows EOSDIS to interoperate with data archives from other domestic and international organizations. EOSDIS is committed to NASA's Data Policy of full and open sharing of Earth science data. As metadata is used in all aspects of NASA's Earth science data lifecycle, EOSDIS provides a spatial and temporal metadata registry and order broker called the EOS Clearing House (ECHO) that allows efficient search and access of cross domain data and services through the Reverb Client and Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs). Another core metadata component of EOSDIS is NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) which represents more than 25,000 Earth science data set and service descriptions from all over the world, covering subject areas within the Earth and environmental sciences. With inputs from the ECHO, GCMD and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission metadata models, EOSDIS is developing a NASA ISO 19115 Best Practices Convention. Adoption of an international metadata standard enables a far greater level of interoperability among national and international data products. NASA recently concluded a 'Metadata Harmony Study' of EOSDIS metadata capabilities/processes of ECHO and NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD), to evaluate opportunities for improved data access and use, reduce efforts by data providers and improve metadata integrity. The result was a recommendation for EOSDIS to develop a 'Common Metadata Repository (CMR)' to manage the evolution of NASA Earth Science metadata in a unified and consistent way by providing a central storage and access capability that streamlines current workflows while increasing overall data quality and anticipating future capabilities. For applications users interested in monitoring and analyzing a wide variety of natural and man-made phenomena, EOSDIS provides access to near real-time products from the MODIS, OMI, AIRS, and MLS instruments in less than 3 hours from observation. To enable interactive exploration of NASA's Earth imagery, EOSDIS is developing a set of standard services to deliver global, full-resolution satellite imagery in a highly responsive manner. EOSDIS is also playing a lead role in the development of the CEOS WGISS Integrated Catalog (CWIC), which provides search and access to holdings of participating international data providers. EOSDIS provides a platform to expose and share information on NASA Earth science tools and data via Earthdata.nasa.gov while offering a coherent and interoperable system for the NASA Earth Science Data System (ESDS) Program.

Modelling the Climate - Greenland Ice Sheet Interaction in the Coupled Ice-sheet/Climate Model EC-EARTH - PISM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, S.; Madsen, M. S.; Rodehacke, C. B.; Svendsen, S. H.; Adalgeirsdottir, G.

2014-12-01

Recent observations show that the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) has been losing mass with an increasing speed during the past decades. Predicting the GrIS changes and their climate consequences relies on the understanding of the interaction of the GrIS with the climate system on both global and local scales, and requires climate model systems with an explicit and physically consistent ice sheet module. A fully coupled global climate model with a dynamical ice sheet model for the GrIS has recently been developed. The model system, EC-EARTH - PISM, consists of the EC-EARTH, an atmosphere, ocean and sea ice model system, and the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). The coupling of PISM includes a modified surface physical parameterization in EC-EARTH adapted to the land ice surface over glaciated regions in Greenland. The PISM ice sheet model is forced with the surface mass balance (SMB) directly computed inside the EC-EARTH atmospheric module and accounting for the precipitation, the surface evaporation, and the melting of snow and ice over land ice. PISM returns the simulated basal melt, ice discharge and ice cover (extent and thickness) as boundary conditions to EC-EARTH. This coupled system is mass and energy conserving without being constrained by any anomaly correction or flux adjustment, and hence is suitable for investigation of ice sheet - climate feedbacks. Three multi-century experiments for warm climate scenarios under (1) the RCP85 climate forcing, (2) an abrupt 4xCO2 and (3) an idealized 1% per year CO2 increase are performed using the coupled model system. The experiments are compared with their counterparts of the standard CMIP5 simulations (without the interactive ice sheet) to evaluate the performance of the coupled system and to quantify the GrIS feedbacks. In particular, the evolution of the Greenland ice sheet under the warm climate and its impacts on the climate system are investigated. Freshwater fluxes from the Greenland ice sheet melt to the Arctic and North Atlantic basin and their influence on the ocean stratification and ocean circulation are analysed. The changes in the surface climate and the atmospheric circulation associated with the impact of the Greenland ice sheet changes are quantified. The interaction between the Greenland ice sheet and Arctic sea ice is also examined.

The Earth Observing System AM Spacecraft - Thermal Control Subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chalmers, D.; Fredley, J.; Scott, C.

1993-01-01

Mission requirements for the EOS-AM Spacecraft intended to monitor global changes of the entire earth system are considered. The spacecraft is based on an instrument set containing the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection radiometer (ASTER), Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR), Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), and Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT). Emphasis is placed on the design, analysis, development, and verification plans for the unique EOS-AM Thermal Control Subsystem (TCS) aimed at providing the required environments for all the onboard equipment in a densely packed layout. The TCS design maximizes the use of proven thermal design techniques and materials, in conjunction with a capillary pumped two-phase heat transport system for instrument thermal control.

Mapping and Visualization of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Using Satellite Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira Pichardo, E.

2017-12-01

Satellites are man-made objects hovering around the Earth's orbit and are essential for Earth observation, i.e. the monitoring and gathering of data about the Earth's vital systems. Environmental Satellites are used for atmospheric research, weather forecasting, and warning as well as monitoring extreme weather events. These satellites are categorized into Geosynchronous and Low Earth (Polar) orbiting satellites. Visualizing satellite data is critical to understand the Earth's systems and changes to our environment. The objective of this research is to examine satellite-based remotely sensed data that needs to be processed and rendered in the form of maps or other forms of visualization to understand and interpret the satellites' observations to monitor the status, changes and evolution of the mega-disaster Deepwater Horizon Spill that occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. In this project, we will use an array of tools and programs such as Python, CSPP and Linux. Also, we will use data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Polar-Orbiting Satellites Terra Earth Observing System AM-1 (EOS AM-1), and Aqua EOS PM-1 to investigate the mega-disaster. Each of these satellites carry a variety of instruments, and we will use the data obtained from the remote sensor Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Ultimately, this study shows the importance of mapping and visualizing data such as satellite data (MODIS) to understand the extents of environmental impacts disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill.

Tidal effects on Earth, Planets, Sun by far visiting moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fargion, Daniele

2016-07-01

The Earth has been formed by a huge mini-planet collision forming our Earth surface and our Moon today. Such a central collision hit was statistically rare. A much probable skimming or nearby encounter by other moons or planets had to occur. Indeed Recent observations suggest that many planetary-mass objects may be present in the outer solar system between the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. Gravitational perturbations may occasionally bring them into the inner solar system. Their passage near Earth could have generated gigantic tidal waves, large volcanic eruptions, sea regressions, large meteoritic impacts and drastic changes in global climate. They could have caused the major biological mass extinctions in the past in the geological records. For instance a ten times a terrestrial radius nearby impact scattering by a peripherical encounter by a small moon-like object will force huge tidal waves (hundred meter height), able to lead to huge tsunami and Earth-quake. Moreover the historical cumulative planet hits in larger and wider planets as Juppiter, Saturn, Uranus will leave a trace, as observed, in their tilted spin axis. Finally a large fraction of counter rotating moons in our solar system probe and test such a visiting mini-planet captur origination. In addition the Earth day duration variability in the early past did show a rare discountinuity, very probably indebt to such a visiting planet crossing event. These far planets in rare trajectory to our Sun may, in thousands event capture, also explain sudden historical and recent temperature changes.

Global Change Data Center: Mission, Organization, Major Activities, and 2003 Highlights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Rapid, efficient access to Earth sciences data from satellites and ground validation stations is fundamental to the nation's efforts to understand the effects of global environmental changes and their implications for public policy. It becomes a bigger challenge in the future when data volumes increase from current levels to terabytes per day. Demands on data storage, data access, network throughput, processing power, and database and information management are increased by orders of magnitude, while budgets remain constant and even shrink.The Global Change Data Center's (GCDC) mission is to develop and operate data systems, generate science products, and provide archival and distribution services for Earth science data in support of the U.S. Global Change Program and NASA's Earth Sciences Enterprise. The ultimate product of the GCDC activities is access to data to support research, education, and public policy.

Earth science information: Planning for the integration and use of global change information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lousma, Jack R.

1992-01-01

The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) was founded in 1989 as a non-profit corporation dedicated to facilitating access to, use and understanding of global change information worldwide. The Consortium was created to cooperate and coordinate with organizations and researchers throughout the global change community to further access the most advanced technology, the latest scientific research, and the best information available for critical environmental decision making. CIESIN study efforts are guided by Congressional mandates to 'convene key present and potential users to assess the need for investment in integration of earth science information,' to 'outline the desirable pattern of interaction with the scientific and policy community,' and to 'develop recommendations and draft plans to achieve the appropriate level of effort in the use of earth science data for research and public policy purposes.' In addition, CIESIN is tasked by NASA to develop a data center that would extend the benefits of Earth Observing System (EOS) to the users of global change information related to human dimensions issues. For FY 1991, CIESIN focused on two main objectives. The first addressed the identification of information needs of global change research and non-research user groups worldwide. The second focused on an evaluation of the most efficient mechanisms for making this information available in usable forms.

Guidance Scheme for Modulation of Drag Devices to Enable Return from Low Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dutta, Soumyo; Bowes, Angela L.; Cianciolo, Alicia D.; Glass, Christopher E.; Powell, Richard W.

2017-01-01

Passive drag devices provide opportunities to return payloads from low Earth orbits quickly without using onboard propulsive systems to de-orbit the spacecraft. However, one potential disadvantage of such systems has been the lack of landing accuracy. Drag modulation or changing the shape of the drag device during flight offer a way to control the de-orbit trajectory and target a specific landing location. This paper discusses a candidate passive drag based system, called Exo-brake, as well as efforts to model the dynamics of the vehicle as it de-orbits and guidance schemes used to control the trajectory. Such systems can enable quick return of payloads from low Earth orbit assets like the International Space Station without the use of large re-entry cargo capsules or propulsive systems.

The effect of aerosols on the earth-atmosphere albedo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herman, B. M.; Browning, S. R.

1975-01-01

The paper presents calculations of the change in reflected flux by the earth-atmosphere system in response to increases in the atmospheric aerosol loading for a range of complex indices of refraction, solar elevation angle and ground albedo. Results show that, for small values of ground albedo, the reflected solar flux may either increase or decrease with increasing aerosol loadings, depending upon the complex part of the index of refraction of the aerosols. For high ground albedos, an increase in aerosol levels always results in a decrease of reflected flux (i.e., a warming of the earth-atmosphere system).

Observed tidal braking in the earth/moon/sun system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christodoulidis, D. C.; Smith, D. E.; Williamson, R. G.; Klosko, S. M.

1987-01-01

The low degree and order terms in the spherical harmonic model of the tidal potential were observed through the perturbations which are induced on near-earth satellite orbital motions. Evaluations of tracking observations from 17 satellites and a GEM-T1 geopotential model were used in the tidal recovery which was made in the presence of over 600 long-wavelength coefficients from 32 major and minor tides. Wahr's earth tidal model was used as a basis for the recovery of the ocean tidal terms. Using this tidal model, the secular change in the moon's mean motion due to tidal dissipation was found to be -25.27 + or - 0.61 arcsec/century squared. The estimation of lunar acceleration agreed with that observed from lunar laser ranging techniques (-24.9 + or - 1.0 arcsec/century squared), with the corresponding tidal braking of earth's rotation being -5.98 + or - 0.22 x 10 to the minus 22 rad/second squared. If the nontidal braking of the earth due to the observed secular change in the earth's second zonal harmonic is considered, satellite techniques yield a total value of the secular change of the earth's rotation rate of -4.69 + or - 0.36 x 10 to the minus 22 rad/second squared.

Fresh approaches to Earth surface modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopylova, N. S.; Starikov, I. P.

2018-05-01

The paper considers modelling of the surface when fixing objects in the geocentric coordinate systems in the course of GLONASS satellite system development. The authors revealed new approaches to presentation of geographical data to a user, transformation of map properties and the leading role of ERS (Earth remote sensing) as a source of mapping information; change of scientific paradigms aimed at improvement of high-accuracy cartographic objects representation in the plane.

STS-75 crew insignia

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-10-01

STS075-S-001 (September 1995) --- The STS-75 crew patch depicts the space shuttle Columbia and the Tethered Satellite connected by a 21-kilometer electronically conducting tether. The orbiter/satellite system is passing through Earth?s magnetic field which, like an electronic generator, will produce thousands of volts of electricity. Columbia is carrying the United States Microgravity pallet to conduct microgravity research in material science and thermodynamics. The tether is crossing Earth?s terminator signifying the dawn of a new era for space tether applications and in mankind?s knowledge of Earth?s ionosphere, material science, and thermodynamics. The patch was designed for the STS-75 crew members by Mike Sanni. The NASA insignia design for space shuttle flights is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the forms of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which is not anticipated, the change will be publicly announced. Photo credit: NASA

Using the International Directory Network and connected information systems for research in the Earth and space sciences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thieman, J. R.

1994-01-01

Many researchers are becoming aware of the International Directory Network (IDN), an interconnected federation of international directories to Earth and space science data. Are you aware, however, of the many Earth-science-relevant information systems which can be accessed automatically from the directories? After determining potentially useful data sets in various disciplines through directories such as the Global Change Master Directory, it is becoming increasingly possible to get detailed information about the correlative possibilities of these data sets through the connected guide/catalog and inventory systems. Such capabilities as data set browse, subsetting, analysis, etc. are available now and will be improving in the future.

COMPLEX ADAPTIVE HIERARCHICAL SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

One of the most powerful images of our time, an image that has changed the way we think of ourselves and the way we think about our relationship to our environment, is the image of Earth viewed from the surface of the moon. As we view "spaceship Earth" we sense that the complexit...

The 1990 Reference Handbook: Earth Observing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

An overview of the Earth Observing System (EOS) including goals and requirements is given. Its role in the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the International--Biosphere Program is addressed. The EOS mission requirements, science, fellowship program, data and information systems architecture, data policy, space measurement, and mission elements are presented along with the management of EOS. Descriptions of the facility instruments, instrument investigations, and interdisciplinary investigations are also present. The role of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the mission is mentioned.

Update on the NASA GEOS-5 Aerosol Forecasting and Data Assimilation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colarco, Peter; da Silva, Arlindo; Aquila, Valentina; Bian, Huisheng; Buchard, Virginie; Castellanos, Patricia; Darmenov, Anton; Follette-Cook, Melanie; Govindaraju, Ravi; Keller, Christoph;

NASA's Current Earth Science Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Charles, Leslie Bermann

1998-01-01

NASA's Earth science program is a scientific endeavor whose goal is to provide long-term understanding of the Earth as an integrated system of land, water, air and life. A highly developed scientific knowledge of the Earth system is necessary to understand how the environment affects humanity, and how humanity may be affecting the environment. The remote sensing technologies used to gather the global environmental data used in such research also have numerous practical applications. Current applications of remote sensing data demonstrate their practical benefits in areas such as the monitoring of crop conditions and yields, natural disasters and forest fires; hazardous waste clean up; and tracking of vector-borne diseases. The long-term availability of environmental data is essential for the continuity of important research and applications efforts. NASA's Earth observation program has undergone many changes in the recent past.

Montane ecosystem productivity responds more to global circulation patterns than climatic trends.

PubMed

Desai, A R; Wohlfahrt, G; Zeeman, M J; Katata, G; Eugster, W; Montagnani, L; Gianelle, D; Mauder, M; Schmid, H-P

2016-02-01

Regional ecosystem productivity is highly sensitive to inter-annual climate variability, both within and outside the primary carbon uptake period. However, Earth system models lack sufficient spatial scales and ecosystem processes to resolve how these processes may change in a warming climate. Here, we show, how for the European Alps, mid-latitude Atlantic ocean winter circulation anomalies drive high-altitude summer forest and grassland productivity, through feedbacks among orographic wind circulation patterns, snowfall, winter and spring temperatures, and vegetation activity. Therefore, to understand future global climate change influence to regional ecosystem productivity, Earth systems models need to focus on improvements towards topographic downscaling of changes in regional atmospheric circulation patterns and to lagged responses in vegetation dynamics to non-growing season climate anomalies.

Montane ecosystem productivity responds more to global circulation patterns than climatic trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desai, A. R.; Wohlfahrt, G.; Zeeman, M. J.; Katata, G.; Eugster, W.; Montagnani, L.; Gianelle, D.; Mauder, M.; Schmid, H.-P.

2016-02-01

Regional ecosystem productivity is highly sensitive to inter-annual climate variability, both within and outside the primary carbon uptake period. However, Earth system models lack sufficient spatial scales and ecosystem processes to resolve how these processes may change in a warming climate. Here, we show, how for the European Alps, mid-latitude Atlantic ocean winter circulation anomalies drive high-altitude summer forest and grassland productivity, through feedbacks among orographic wind circulation patterns, snowfall, winter and spring temperatures, and vegetation activity. Therefore, to understand future global climate change influence to regional ecosystem productivity, Earth systems models need to focus on improvements towards topographic downscaling of changes in regional atmospheric circulation patterns and to lagged responses in vegetation dynamics to non-growing season climate anomalies.

Teaching climate change: A 16-year record of introducing undergraduates to the fundamentals of the climate system and its complexities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winckler, G.; Pfirman, S. L.; Hays, J. D.; Schlosser, P.; Ting, M.

2011-12-01

Responding to climate change challenges in the near and far future, will require a wide range of knowledge, skills and a sense of the complexities involved. Since 1995, Columbia University and Barnard College have offered an undergraduate class that strives to provide students with some of these skills. The 'Climate System' course is a component of the three-part 'Earth Environmental Systems' series and provides the fundamentals needed for understanding the Earth's climate system and its variability. Being designed both for science majors and non-science majors, the emphasis of the course is on basic physical explanations, rather than mathematical derivations of the laws that govern the climate system. The course includes lectures, labs and discussion. Laboratory exercises primarily explore the climate system using global datasets, augmented by hands-on activities. Course materials are available for public use at http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/climate/camel_modules/ and http://ncseonline.org/climate/cms.cfm?id=3783. In this presentation we discuss the experiences, challenges and future demands of conveying the science of the Earth's Climate System and the risks facing the planet to a wide spectrum of undergraduate students, many of them without a background in the sciences. Using evaluation data we reflect how the course, the students, and the faculty have evolved over the past 16 years as the earth warmed, pressures for adaptation planning and mitigation measures increased, and public discourse became increasingly polarized.

Land-Atmosphere Interactions in Cold Environments (LATICE): The role of Atmosphere - Biosphere - Cryosphere - Hydrosphere interactions in a changing climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burkhart, J. F.; Tallaksen, L. M.; Stordal, F.; Berntsen, T.; Westermann, S.; Kristjansson, J. E.; Etzelmuller, B.; Hagen, J. O.; Schuler, T.; Hamran, S. E.; Lande, T. S.; Bryn, A.

2015-12-01

Climate change is impacting the high latitudes more rapidly and significantly than any other region of the Earth because of feedback processes between the atmosphere and the underlying surface. A warmer climate has already led to thawing of permafrost, reducing snow cover and a longer growing season; changes, which in turn influence the atmospheric circulation and the hydrological cycle. Still, many studies rely on one-way coupling between the atmosphere and the land surface, thereby neglecting important interactions and feedbacks. The observation, understanding and prediction of such processes from local to regional and global scales, represent a major scientific challenge that requires multidisciplinary scientific effort. The successful integration of earth observations (remote and in-situ data) and model development requires a harmonized research effort between earth system scientists, modelers and the developers of technologies and sensors. LATICE, which is recognized as a priority research area by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo, aims to advance the knowledge base concerning land atmosphere interactions and their role in controlling climate variability and climate change at high northern latitudes. The consortium consists of an interdisciplinary team of experts from the atmospheric and terrestrial (hydrosphere, cryosphere and biosphere) research groups, together with key expertise on earth observations and novel sensor technologies. LATICE addresses critical knowledge gaps in the current climate assessment capacity through: Improving parameterizations of processes in earth system models controlling the interactions and feedbacks between the land (snow, ice, permafrost, soil and vegetation) and the atmosphere at high latitudes, including the boreal, alpine and artic zone. Assessing the influence of climate and land cover changes on water and energy fluxes. Integrating remote earth observations with in-situ data and suitable models to allow studies of finer-scale processes governing land-atmosphere interactions. Addressing observational challenges through the development of novel observational products and networks.

The next generation of scenarios for climate change research and assessment.

PubMed

Moss, Richard H; Edmonds, Jae A; Hibbard, Kathy A; Manning, Martin R; Rose, Steven K; van Vuuren, Detlef P; Carter, Timothy R; Emori, Seita; Kainuma, Mikiko; Kram, Tom; Meehl, Gerald A; Mitchell, John F B; Nakicenovic, Nebojsa; Riahi, Keywan; Smith, Steven J; Stouffer, Ronald J; Thomson, Allison M; Weyant, John P; Wilbanks, Thomas J

2010-02-11

Advances in the science and observation of climate change are providing a clearer understanding of the inherent variability of Earth's climate system and its likely response to human and natural influences. The implications of climate change for the environment and society will depend not only on the response of the Earth system to changes in radiative forcings, but also on how humankind responds through changes in technology, economies, lifestyle and policy. Extensive uncertainties exist in future forcings of and responses to climate change, necessitating the use of scenarios of the future to explore the potential consequences of different response options. To date, such scenarios have not adequately examined crucial possibilities, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, and have relied on research processes that slowed the exchange of information among physical, biological and social scientists. Here we describe a new process for creating plausible scenarios to investigate some of the most challenging and important questions about climate change confronting the global community.

ERCA 2008 - From the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change to the Observation of the Earth from Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutron, Claude

2009-02-01

This book is the eighth volume in the series of books published within the framework of the European Research Course on Atmospheres ("ERCA"). ERCA was initiated in 1993 by the University Joseph Fourier of Grenoble, in order to provide PhD students and scientists from Europe and the rest of the world with a multidisciplinary course, which covers especially: the climate system and climate change; the physics and chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere; the human dimensions of environmental change; the other planets and satellites in the solar system and beyond. Since 1993, sixteen sessions have been attended by more 800 participants from 50 countries. The seventeenth session will take place from 12 January to 13 February 2009. This new volume contains twenty two chapters dealing with a wide range of topics. The following subjects are covered: the human dimensions of global environmental change; climate change and cryospheric evolution in China; the projections of twenty-first century climate over Europe; the understanding of the health impacts of air pollutants; air quality and human welfare; photocatalytic self-cleaning materials; radiative transfer in the cloudy atmosphere; laboratory modelling of atmospheric dynamical processes; stratospheric ozone; the applications of stable isotope analysis to atmospheric trace gas budgets; nitrogen oxides in the troposphere; the observation of the solid Earth, the oceans and land waters; the surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet; sea surface salinity reconstruction as seen with foraminifera shells; sources markers in aerosols, oceanic particles and sediments; the nucleation of atmospheric particles; the characterization of atmospheric aerosol episodes in China; the solar magnetic activity; the present and past climates of planet Mars; the outer solar system; Titan as an analog of Earth's past and future; the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets.

Development of a High-Resolution Climate Model for Future Climate Change Projection on the Earth Simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanzawa, H.; Emori, S.; Nishimura, T.; Suzuki, T.; Inoue, T.; Hasumi, H.; Saito, F.; Abe-Ouchi, A.; Kimoto, M.; Sumi, A.

2002-12-01

The fastest supercomputer of the world, the Earth Simulator (total peak performance 40TFLOPS) has recently been available for climate researches in Yokohama, Japan. We are planning to conduct a series of future climate change projection experiments on the Earth Simulator with a high-resolution coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model. The main scientific aims for the experiments are to investigate 1) the change in global ocean circulation with an eddy-permitting ocean model, 2) the regional details of the climate change including Asian monsoon rainfall pattern, tropical cyclones and so on, and 3) the change in natural climate variability with a high-resolution model of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. To meet these aims, an atmospheric GCM, CCSR/NIES AGCM, with T106(~1.1o) horizontal resolution and 56 vertical layers is to be coupled with an oceanic GCM, COCO, with ~ 0.28ox 0.19o horizontal resolution and 48 vertical layers. This coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model, named MIROC, also includes a land-surface model, a dynamic-thermodynamic seaice model, and a river routing model. The poles of the oceanic model grid system are rotated from the geographic poles so that they are placed in Greenland and Antarctic land masses to avoild the singularity of the grid system. Each of the atmospheric and the oceanic parts of the model is parallelized with the Message Passing Interface (MPI) technique. The coupling of the two is to be done with a Multi Program Multi Data (MPMD) fashion. A 100-model-year integration will be possible in one actual month with 720 vector processors (which is only 14% of the full resources of the Earth Simulator).

Overview of international remote sensing through 2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glackin, David L.

1997-12-01

The field of Earth remote sensing is evolving from one that contains purely governmental and military standalone systems of high complexity and expense to one that includes an increasing number of commercial systems, focused missions using small satellites, and systems of lower complexity and cost. The evolution of the field from 1980 - 2007 is summarized in this paper, with emphasis on the rapid changes of international scope that are taking place in 1997 which will shape the future of the field. As of three years ago, seven counties had built and flown free-flying earth observation satellite systems. Projections are for the number of countries operating such systems to approximately double by three years from now. Rapid changes are taking place in terms of spatial resolution, spectral resolution, proliferation of small satellites, ocean color, commercialization and privatization. Several fully commercial high-resolution systems will be launched over the next three years. Partly commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems became a reality with the launch of Radarsat in 1995. Only a handful of small satellite remote sensing missions have been launched to date, while a large number will be launched over the next few years, including minisats from Australia, Brazil, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the USA, as well as microsats from many countries including Malaysia, Pakistan and South Africa. Systems with far greater spectral resolution will also become a reality as hyperspectral instruments are launched. In 1997, we truly stand on the cusp of tremendous change in the burgeoning field of Earth remote sensing.

Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction - a Future Earth KAN initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, Dorothea; Reichstein, Markus

2017-04-01

The topic of Extreme Events in the context of global environmental change is both a scientifically challenging and exciting topic, and of very high societal relevance. The Future Earth Cluster initiative E3S organized in 2016 a cross-community/co-design workshop on Extreme Events and Environments from Climate to Society (http://www.e3s-future-earth.eu/index.php/ConferencesEvents/ConferencesAmpEvents). Based on the results, co-design research strategies and established network of the workshop, and previous activities, E3S is thriving to establish the basis for a longer-term research effort under the umbrella of Future Earth. These led to an initiative for a Future Earth Knowledge Action Network on Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction. Example initial key question in this context include: What are meaningful indices to describe and quantify impact-relevant (e.g. climate) extremes? Which system properties yield resistance and resilience to extreme conditions? What are the key interactions between global urbanization processes, extreme events, and social and infrastructure vulnerability and resilience? The long-term goal of this KAN is to contribute to enhancing the resistance, resilience, and adaptive capacity of socio-ecological systems across spatial, temporal and institutional scales, in particular in the light of hazards affected by ongoing environmental change (e.g. climate change, global urbanization and land use/land cover change). This can be achieved by enhanced understanding, prediction, improved and open data and knowledge bases for detection and early warning decision making, and by new insights on natural and societal conditions and governance for resilience and adaptive capacity.

In search of future earths: assessing the possibility of finding Earth analogues in the later stages of their habitable lifetimes.

PubMed

O'Malley-James, Jack T; Greaves, Jane S; Raven, John A; Cockell, Charles S

2015-05-01

Earth will become uninhabitable within 2-3 Gyr as a result of the increasing luminosity of the Sun changing the boundaries of the habitable zone (HZ). Predictions about the future of habitable conditions on Earth include declining species diversity and habitat extent, ocean loss, and changes to geochemical cycles. Testing these predictions is difficult, but the discovery of a planet that is an analogue to future Earth could provide the means to test them. This planet would need to have an Earth-like biosphere history and to be approaching the inner edge of the HZ at present. Here, we assess the possibility of finding such a planet and discuss the benefits of analyzing older Earths. Finding an old-Earth analogue in nearby star systems would be ideal, because this would allow for atmospheric characterization. Hence, as an illustrative example, G stars within 10 pc of the Sun are assessed as potential old-Earth-analog hosts. Six of these represent good potential hosts. For each system, a hypothetical Earth analogue is placed at locations within the continuously habitable zone (CHZ) that would allow enough time for Earth-like biosphere development. Surface temperature evolution over the host star's main sequence lifetime (assessed by using a simple climate model) is used to determine whether the planet would be in the right stage of its late-habitable lifetime to exhibit detectable biosignatures. The best candidate, in terms of the chances of planet formation in the CHZ and of biosignature detection, is 61 Virginis. However, planet formation studies suggest that only a small fraction (0.36%) of G stars in the solar neighborhood could host an old-Earth analogue. If the development of Earth-like biospheres is rare, requiring a sequence of low-probability events to occur, biosphere evolution models suggest they are rarer still, with only thousands being present in the Galaxy as a whole.

Earth science information: Planning for the integration and use of global change information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lousma, Jack R.

1992-01-01

Activities and accomplishments of the first six months of the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN's) 1992 technical program have focused on four main missions: (1) the development and implementation of plans for initiation of the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) as part of the EOSDIS Program; (2) the pursuit and development of a broad-based global change information cooperative by providing systems analysis and integration between natural science and social science data bases held by numerous federal agencies and other sources; (3) the fostering of scientific research into the human dimensions of global change and providing integration between natural science and social science data and information; and (4) the serving of CIESIN as a gateway for global change data and information distribution through development of the Global Change Research Information Office and other comprehensive knowledge sharing systems.

Era-Planet the European Network for Observing Our Changing Planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirrone, N.; Cinnirella, S.; Nativi, S.; Sprovieri, F.; Hedgecock, I. M.

2016-06-01

In the last decade a significant number of projects and programmes in different domains of Earth Observation and environmental monitoring have generated a substantial amount of data and knowledge on different aspects related to environmental quality and sustainability. Big data generated by in-situ or satellite platforms are being collected and archived with a plethora of systems and instruments making difficult the sharing of data and transfer of knowledge to stakeholders and policy makers to support key economic and societal sectors. The overarching goal of ERAPLANET is to strengthen the European Research Area in the domain of Earth Observation in coherence with the European participation in the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and Copernicus. The expected impact is to strengthen European leadership within the forthcoming GEO 2015-2025 Work Plan. ERA-PLANET is designed to reinforce the interface with user communities, whose needs the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) intends to address. It will provide more accurate, comprehensive and authoritative information to policy and decision-makers in key societal benefit areas, such as Smart Cities and Resilient Societies; Resource efficiency and Environmental management; Global changes and Environmental treaties; Polar areas and Natural resources. ERA-PLANET will provide advanced decision-support tools and technologies aimed to better monitor our global environment and share the information and knowledge available in the different domains of Earth Observation.

The Power of the Crowd: An Up Close and Personal Perspective on Planet Earth.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdalati, W.

2015-12-01

The space-based view of Earth has changed the way we look at our home planet, providing a perspective on the Earth as a system that can only be realized when viewed from a distance. Throughout my career as a researcher, including 2 years as NASA Chief Scientist, this "power of perspective" has been a tool through which I have engaged both colleagues and the public. These capabilities have transformed our understanding of climate and weather phenomena, ecosystem dynamics, changes in the cryosphere, and much more, through their macro-scale look at the various, highly complex components of the Earth system. But within these domains, there is a tremendous amount of small-scale variability that, if appropriately observed, can reveal new information about how elements within the Earth system work in ways that can directly impact people's lives. Consequently, there is a different power in this additional local perspective: it is one fueled by up-close and personal data collection. Through their engagement and commitment, citizen scientists are providing valuable data as well as personalized experience in the collection of those data. This presentation will include video clips that show a diverse set of citizen science projects in North America and worldwide, illustrating this scientifically useful combination of local and global. Such projects engage citizens and scientists alike in efforts to understand the world in which we live.

Assessing state efforts to integrate transportation, land use and climate change.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-01

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a threat to life on earth. Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further : warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, perv...

Earth Observing System: Science Objectives and Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

1998-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. In this presentation I will describe the key areas of scientific uncertainty in understanding climate and global change, and follow that with a description of the EOS goals, objectives, and scientific research elements that comprise the program (instrument science teams and interdisciplinary investigations). Finally, I will describe how scientists and policy makers intend to use EOS data to improve our understanding of key global change uncertainties, such as: (i) clouds and radiation, including fossil fuel and natural emissions of sulfate aerosol and its potential impact on cloud feedback, (ii) man's impact on ozone depletion, with examples of ClO and O3 obtained from the UARS satellite during the Austral Spring, and (iii) volcanic eruptions and their impact on climate, with examples from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.

Determination of the cosmological rate of change of G and the tidal accelerations of earth and moon from ancient and modern astronomical data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muller, P. M.

1976-01-01

The theory and numerical analysis of ancient astronomical observations (1374 to 1715) are combined with modern data in a simultaneous solution for: the tidal acceleration of the lunar longitude; the observed apparent acceleration of the earth's rotation; the true nontidal geophysical part of this acceleration; and the rate of change in the gravitational constant. Provided are three independent determinations of a rate of change of G consistent with the Hubble Constant and a near zero nontidal rotational acceleration of the earth. The tidal accelerations are shown to have remained constant during the historical period within uncertainties. Ancient and modern solar system data, and extragalactic observations provided a completely consistent astronomical and cosmological scheme.

Analysis of consistency of global net land-use change carbon emission scenario using offline vegetation model and earth system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, E.; Kawamiya, M.

2010-12-01

For CMIP5 experiments, emissions scenarios data sets for climate models are prepared as Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) by the Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). IAMs also have depicted regional land-use scenarios based on the socioeconomic assumption of the future scenarios of RCPs. In the land-use harmonization project, gridded land-use transition data has been constructed from the regional IAMs future land-use scenarios which smoothly connects historical reconstructions of land-use based on HYDE 3 data and FAO wood harvest data. In this study, using the gridded transition land-use scenario data, global net CO2 emission from land-use change for each RCPs scenarios is evaluated with a offline version of terrestrial biogeochemical model, VISIT (Vegetation Integrative SImulation Tool), utilizing a protocol to estimate carbon emission from deforested biomass considering delayed decomposition of product pools, and regrowth absorption from the secondary lands with abandoned agricultural lands. From the model output, effect of CO2 fertilization and land-use scenario itself on the emission is assessed to see the consistency of the scenarios. In addition, to see the effect of climate change and the climate-carbon feedback on terrestrial ecosystems, net land-use change CO2 emission is also evaluated with an earth system model, MIROC-ESM incorporating a DGVM with land-use change component. In the simulations with earth system model, RCP 6.0 scenario has been evaluated by model runs with and without land-use change forcing.

A Rapid Prototyping Look at NASA's Next Generation Earth-Observing Satellites; Opportunities for Global Change Research and Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cecil, L.; Young, D. F.; Parker, P. A.; Eckman, R. S.

2006-12-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program extends the results of Earth Science Division (ESD) research and knowledge beyond the scientific and research communities to contribute to national priority applications with societal benefits. The Applied Sciences Program focuses on, (1) assimilation of NASA Earth-science research results and their associated uncertainties to improve decision support systems and, (2) the transition of NASA research results to evolve improvements in future operational systems. The broad range of Earth- science research results that serve as inputs to the Applied Sciences Program are from NASA's Research and Analysis Program (R&A) within the ESD. The R&A Program has established six research focus areas to study the complex processes associated with Earth-system science; Atmospheric Composition, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Climate Variability and Change, Earth Surface and Interior, Water and Energy Cycle, and Weather. Through observations-based Earth-science research results, NASA and its partners are establishing predictive capabilities for future projections of natural and human perturbations on the planet. The focus of this presentation is on the use of research results and their associated uncertainties from several of NASA's nine next generation missions for societal benefit. The newly launched missions are, (1) CloudSat, and (2) CALIPSO (Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations), both launched April 28, 2006, and the planned next generation missions include, (3) the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), (4) the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM), (5) the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), (6) Glory, for measuring the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols and total solar irradiance for long-term climate records, (7) Aquarius, for measuring global sea surface salinity, (8) the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM), and (9) the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) for measuring long-term climate trends and global biological productivity. NASA's Applied Sciences Program is taking a scientifically rigorous systems engineering approach to facilitate rapid prototyping of potential uses of the projected research capabilities of these new missions into decision support systems. This presentation includes an example of a prototype experiment that focuses on two of the Applied Sciences Program's twelve National Applications focus areas, Water Management and Energy Management. This experiment is utilizing research results and associated uncertainties from existing Earth-observation missions as well as from several of NASA's nine next generation missions. This prototype experiment is simulating decision support analysis and research results leading to priority management and/or policy issues concentrating on climate change and uncertainties in alpine areas on the watershed scale.

NASA's Evolution to Ka-Band Space Communications for Near-Earth Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCarthy, Kevin; Stocklin, Frank; Geldzahler, Barry; Friedman, Daniel; Celeste, Peter

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the exploration of NASA using a Ka-band system for spacecraft communications in Near-Earth orbits. The reasons for changing to Ka-band are the higher data rates, and the current (X-band spectrum) is becoming crowded. This will require some modification to the current ground station antennas systems. The results of a Request for Information (RFI) are discussed, and the recommended solution is reviewed.

Integrated Earth System Model (iESM)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thornton, Peter Edmond; Mao, Jiafu; Shi, Xiaoying

2016-12-02

The iESM is a simulation code that represents the physical and biological aspects of Earth's climate system, and also includes the macro-economic and demographic properties of human societies. The human aspect of the simulation code is focused in particular on the effects of human activities on land use and land cover change, but also includes aspects such as energy economies. The time frame for predictions with iESM is approximately 1970 through 2100.

Earth rotation excitation mechanisms derived from geodetic space observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Göttl, F.; Schmidt, M.

2009-04-01

Earth rotation variations are caused by mass displacements and motions in the subsystems of the Earth. Via the satellite Gravity and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity field variations can be identified which are caused by mass redistribution in the Earth system. Therefore time variable gravity field models (GFZ RL04, CSR RL04, JPL RL04, ITG-Grace03, GRGS, ...) can be used to derive different impacts on Earth rotation. Furthermore satellite altimetry provides accurate information on sea level anomalies (AVISO, DGFI) which are caused by mass and volume changes of seawater. Since Earth rotation is solely affected by mass variations and motions the volume (steric) effect has to be reduced from the altimetric observations in order to infer oceanic contributions to Earth rotation variations. Therefore the steric effect is estimated from physical ocean parameters such as temperature and salinity changes in the oceans (WOA05, Ishii). In this study specific individual geophysical contributions to Earth rotation variations are identified by means of a multitude of accurate geodetic space observations in combination with a realistic error propagation. It will be shown that due to adjustment of altimetric and/or gravimetric solutions the results for polar motion excitations can be improved.

On the estimation of physical height changes using GRACE satellite mission data - A case study of Central Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godah, Walyeldeen; Szelachowska, Małgorzata; Krynski, Jan

2017-12-01

The dedicated gravity satellite missions, in particular the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) mission launched in 2002, provide unique data for studying temporal variations of mass distribution in the Earth's system, and thereby, the geometry and the gravity fi eld changes of the Earth. The main objective of this contribution is to estimate physical height (e.g. the orthometric/normal height) changes over Central Europe using GRACE satellite mission data as well as to analyse them and model over the selected study area. Physical height changes were estimated from temporal variations of height anomalies and vertical displacements of the Earth surface being determined over the investigated area. The release 5 (RL05) GRACE-based global geopotential models as well as load Love numbers from the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) were used as input data. Analysis of the estimated physical height changes and their modelling were performed using two methods: the seasonal decomposition method and the PCA/ EOF (Principal Component Analysis/Empirical Orthogonal Function) method and the differences obtained were discussed. The main fi ndings reveal that physical height changes over the selected study area reach up to 22.8 mm. The obtained physical height changes can be modelled with an accuracy of 1.4 mm using the seasonal decomposition method.

How will SOA change in the future?: SOA IN THE FUTURE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Guangxing; Penner, Joyce E.; Zhou, Cheng

2016-02-17

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) plays a significant role in the Earth system by altering its radiative balance. Here we use an Earth system model coupled with an explicit SOA formation module to estimate the response of SOA concentrations to changes in climate, anthropogenic emissions, and human land use in the future. We find that climate change is the major driver for SOA change under the representative concentration pathways for the 8.5 future scenario. Climate change increases isoprene emission rate by 18% with the effect of temperature increases outweighing that of the CO2 inhibition effect. Annual mean global SOA mass ismore » increased by 25% as a result of climate change. However, anthropogenic emissions and land use change decrease SOA. The net effect is that future global SOA burden in 2100 is nearly the same as that of the present day. The SOA concentrations over the Northern Hemisphere are predicted to decline in the future due to the control of sulfur emissions.« less

Critical Thresholds in Earth-System Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothman, D.

2017-12-01

The history of the Earth system is a story of change. Some changesare gradual and benign, but others, especially those associated withcatastrophic mass extinction, are relatively abrupt and destructive.What sets one group apart from the other? Here I hypothesize thatperturbations of Earth's carbon cycle lead to mass extinction if theyexceed either a critical rate at long time scales or a critical sizeat short time scales. By analyzing 31 carbon-isotopic events duringthe last 542 million years, I identify the critical rate with a limitimposed by mass conservation. Further analysis identifies thecrossover timescale separating fast from slow events with thetimescale of the ocean's homeostatic response to a change in pH. Theproduct of the critical rate and the crossover timescale then yieldsthe critical size. The modern critical size for the marine carboncycle is roughly similar to the mass of carbon that human activitieswill likely have added to the oceans by the year 2100.

A novel interplanetary optical navigation algorithm based on Earth-Moon group photos by Chang'e-5T1 probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bu, Yanlong; Zhang, Qiang; Ding, Chibiao; Tang, Geshi; Wang, Hang; Qiu, Rujin; Liang, Libo; Yin, Hejun

2017-02-01

This paper presents an interplanetary optical navigation algorithm based on two spherical celestial bodies. The remarkable characteristic of the method is that key navigation parameters can be estimated depending entirely on known sizes and ephemerides of two celestial bodies, especially positioning is realized through a single image and does not rely on traditional terrestrial radio tracking any more. Actual Earth-Moon group photos captured by China's Chang'e-5T1 probe were used to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm. From 430,000 km away from the Earth, the camera pointing accuracy reaches 0.01° (one sigma) and the inertial positioning error is less than 200 km, respectively; meanwhile, the cost of the ground control and human resources are greatly reduced. The algorithm is flexible, easy to implement, and can provide reference to interplanetary autonomous navigation in the solar system.

Earth System Science Education Centered on Natural Climate Variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, P. C.; Ladochy, S.; Patzert, W. C.; Willis, J. K.

2009-12-01

Several new courses and many educational activities related to climate change are available to teachers and students of all grade levels. However, not all new discoveries in climate research have reached the science education community. In particular, effective learning tools explaining natural climate change are scarce. For example, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a main cause of natural climate variability spanning decades. While most educators are familiar with the shorter-temporal events impacting climate, El Niño and La Niña, very little has trickled into the climate change curriculum on the PDO. We have developed two online educational modules, using an Earth system science approach, on the PDO and its role in climate change and variability. The first concentrates on the discovery of the PDO through records of salmon catch in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. We present the connection between salmon abundance in the North Pacific to changing sea surface temperature patterns associated with the PDO. The connection between sea surface temperatures and salmon abundance led to the discovery of the PDO. Our activity also lets students explore the role of salmon in the economy and culture of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and the environmental requirements for salmon survival. The second module is based on the climate of southern California and how changes in the Pacific Ocean , such as the PDO and ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation), influence regional climate variability. PDO and ENSO signals are evident in the long-term temperature and precipitation record of southern California. Students are guided in the module to discover the relationships between Pacific Ocean conditions and southern California climate variability. The module also provides information establishing the relationship between climate change and variability and the state's water, energy, agriculture, wildfires and forestry, air quality and health issues. Both modules will be reviewed for inclusion on the ESSEA (Earth Systems Science Education Alliance) course module list. ESSEA is a NSF-funded organization dedicated to K-12 online Earth system science education.

Detrital zircons and Earth system evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenzie, R.

2016-12-01

Zircon is a mineral commonly produced in silicic magmatism. Therefore, due to its resilience and exceedingly long residence times in the continental crust, detrital zircon records can be used to track processes associated with silicic magmatism throughout Earth history. In this contribution I will address the potential role of preservational biases in zircon record, and further discuss how zircon datasets can be used to help better understand the relationship between lithospheric and Earth system evolution. I will use large compilations of zircon data to trace the composition and weatherability of the continental crust, to evaluate temporal rates of crustal recycling, and finally to track spatiotemporal variation in continental arc magmatism and volcanic CO2 outgassing throughout Earth history. These records demonstrate that secular changes in plate tectonic regimes played a prominent role in modulating conditions of the ocean+atmosphere system and long-term climate state for the last 3 billion years.

The Earth Observing System. [instrument investigations for flight on EOS-A satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Stan; Dozier, Jeff

1991-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS), the centerpiece of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, is to study the interactions of the atmosphere, land, oceans, and living organisms, using the perspective of space to observe the earth as a global environmental system. To better understand the role of clouds in global change, EOS will measure incoming and emitted radiation at the top of the atmosphere. Then, to study characteristics of the atmosphere that influence radiation transfer between the top of the atmosphere and the surface, EOS wil observe clouds, water vapor and cloud water, aerosols, temperature and humidity, and directional effects. To elucidate the role of anthropogenic greenhouse gas and terrestrial and marine plants as a source or sink for carbon, EOS will observe the biological productivity of lands and oceans. EOS will also study surface properties that affect biological productivity at high resolution spatially and spectrally.

Land management: data availability and process understanding for global change studies.

PubMed

Erb, Karl-Heinz; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan; Meyfroidt, Patrick; Pongratz, Julia; Don, Axel; Kloster, Silvia; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Fetzel, Tamara; Fuchs, Richard; Herold, Martin; Haberl, Helmut; Jones, Chris D; Marín-Spiotta, Erika; McCallum, Ian; Robertson, Eddy; Seufert, Verena; Fritz, Steffen; Valade, Aude; Wiltshire, Andrew; Dolman, Albertus J

2017-02-01

In the light of daunting global sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and food security, improving our understanding of the complex dynamics of the Earth system is crucial. However, large knowledge gaps related to the effects of land management persist, in particular those human-induced changes in terrestrial ecosystems that do not result in land-cover conversions. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of ten common land management activities for their biogeochemical and biophysical impacts, the level of process understanding and data availability. Our review shows that ca. one-tenth of the ice-free land surface is under intense human management, half under medium and one-fifth under extensive management. Based on our review, we cluster these ten management activities into three groups: (i) management activities for which data sets are available, and for which a good knowledge base exists (cropland harvest and irrigation); (ii) management activities for which sufficient knowledge on biogeochemical and biophysical effects exists but robust global data sets are lacking (forest harvest, tree species selection, grazing and mowing harvest, N fertilization); and (iii) land management practices with severe data gaps concomitant with an unsatisfactory level of process understanding (crop species selection, artificial wetland drainage, tillage and fire management and crop residue management, an element of crop harvest). Although we identify multiple impediments to progress, we conclude that the current status of process understanding and data availability is sufficient to advance with incorporating management in, for example, Earth system or dynamic vegetation models in order to provide a systematic assessment of their role in the Earth system. This review contributes to a strategic prioritization of research efforts across multiple disciplines, including land system research, ecological research and Earth system modelling. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Journal of Earth System Science Education: Peer Review for Digital Earth and Digital Library Content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, D.; Ruzek, M.; Weatherley, J.

2001-05-01

The Journal of Earth System Science Education is a new interdisciplinary electronic journal aiming to foster the study of the Earth as a system and promote the development and exchange of interdisciplinary learning resources for formal and informal education. JESSE will serve educators and students by publishing and providing ready electronic access to Earth system and global change science learning resources for the classroom and will provide authors and creators with professional recognition through publication in a peer reviewed journal. JESSE resources foster a world perspective by emphasizing interdisciplinary studies and bridging disciplines in the context of the Earth system. The Journal will publish a wide ranging variety of electronic content, with minimal constraints on format, targeting undergraduate educators and students as the principal readership, expanding to a middle and high school audience as the journal matures. JESSE aims for rapid review and turn-around of resources to be published, with a goal of 12 weeks from submission to publication for resources requiring few changes. Initial publication will be on a quarterly basis until a flow of resource submissions is established to warrant continuous electronic publication. JESSE employs an open peer review process in which authors and reviewers discuss directly the acceptability of a resource for publication using a software tool called the Digital Document Discourse Environment. Reviewer comments and attribution will be available with the resource upon acceptance for publication. JESSE will also implement a moderated peer commentary capability where readers can comment on the use of a resource or make suggestions. In the development phase, JESSE will also conduct a parallel anonymous review of content to validate and ensure credibility of the open review approach. Copyright of materials submitted remains with the author, granting JESSE the non-exclusive right to maintain a copy of the resource published on the JESSE web server, ensuring long term access to the resource as reviewed. JESSE is collaborating with the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) as a federated partner. Initial release is planned for Summer, 2001.

Ontology of Earth's nonlinear dynamic complex systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babaie, Hassan; Davarpanah, Armita

2017-04-01

As a complex system, Earth and its major integrated and dynamically interacting subsystems (e.g., hydrosphere, atmosphere) display nonlinear behavior in response to internal and external influences. The Earth Nonlinear Dynamic Complex Systems (ENDCS) ontology formally represents the semantics of the knowledge about the nonlinear system element (agent) behavior, function, and structure, inter-agent and agent-environment feedback loops, and the emergent collective properties of the whole complex system as the result of interaction of the agents with other agents and their environment. It also models nonlinear concepts such as aperiodic, random chaotic behavior, sensitivity to initial conditions, bifurcation of dynamic processes, levels of organization, self-organization, aggregated and isolated functionality, and emergence of collective complex behavior at the system level. By incorporating several existing ontologies, the ENDCS ontology represents the dynamic system variables and the rules of transformation of their state, emergent state, and other features of complex systems such as the trajectories in state (phase) space (attractor and strange attractor), basins of attractions, basin divide (separatrix), fractal dimension, and system's interface to its environment. The ontology also defines different object properties that change the system behavior, function, and structure and trigger instability. ENDCS will help to integrate the data and knowledge related to the five complex subsystems of Earth by annotating common data types, unifying the semantics of shared terminology, and facilitating interoperability among different fields of Earth science.

NASA Earth Observations Informing Renewable Energy Management and Policy Decision Making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckman, Richard S.; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.

2008-01-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program partners with domestic and international governmental organizations, universities, and private entities to improve their decisions and assessments. These improvements are enabled by using the knowledge generated from research resulting from spacecraft observations and model predictions conducted by NASA and providing these as inputs to the decision support and scenario assessment tools used by partner organizations. The Program is divided into eight societal benefit areas, aligned in general with the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) themes. The Climate Application of the Applied Sciences Program has as one of its focuses, efforts to provide for improved decisions and assessments in the areas of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, and climate change impacts. The goals of the Applied Sciences Program are aligned with national initiatives such as the U.S. Climate Change Science and Technology Programs and with those of international organizations including the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). Activities within the Program are funded principally through proposals submitted in response to annual solicitations and reviewed by peers.

On the spin-axis dynamics of a Moonless Earth

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Gongjie; Batygin, Konstantin, E-mail: gli@cfa.harvard.edu

2014-07-20

The variation of a planet's obliquity is influenced by the existence of satellites with a high mass ratio. For instance, Earth's obliquity is stabilized by the Moon and would undergo chaotic variations in the Moon's absence. In turn, such variations can lead to large-scale changes in the atmospheric circulation, rendering spin-axis dynamics a central issue for understanding climate. The relevant quantity for dynamically forced climate change is the rate of chaotic diffusion. Accordingly, here we re-examine the spin-axis evolution of a Moonless Earth within the context of a simplified perturbative framework. We present analytical estimates of the characteristic Lyapunov coefficientmore » as well as the chaotic diffusion rate and demonstrate that even in absence of the Moon, the stochastic change in Earth's obliquity is sufficiently slow to not preclude long-term habitability. Our calculations are consistent with published numerical experiments and illustrate the putative system's underlying dynamical structure in a simple and intuitive manner.« less

Near Earth asteroid orbit perturbation and fragmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahrens, Thomas J.; Harris, Alan W.

1992-01-01

Collisions by near earth asteroids or the nuclei of comets pose varying levels of threat to man. A relatively small object, approximately 100 meter diameter, which might be found on an impact trajectory with a populated region of the Earth, could potentially be diverted from an Earth impacting trajectory by mass driver rocket systems. For larger bodies, such systems would appear to be beyond current technology. For any size object, nuclear explosions appear to be more efficient, using either the prompt blow-off from neutron radiation, the impulse from ejecta of near-surface explosion for deflection, or as a fragmenting charge. Practical deflections of bodies with diameters of 0.1, 1, and 10 km require interception, years to decades prior to earth encounter, with explosions a few kilotons, megatons, or gigatons, respectively, of equivalent TNT energy to achieve orbital velocity changes or destruction to a level where fragments are dispersed to harmless spatial densities.

Payload advisory panel recommendations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Berrien, III

1991-01-01

The Payload Advisory Panel proposes a restructured Earth Observing System (EOS) mission to address high-priority science and environmental policy issues in Earth System Science. These issues have been identified through studies conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES). The restructured EOS defers efforts to improve the understanding of the middle and upper stratosphere and solid earth geophysics. The strategy of the mission combines high priority new measurements with continuation of critical data sets begun by missions which precede EOS. Collaborative arrangements with international partners are an essential part of the program and additional arrangements are posed. The need for continuity in Earth observations and the urgency of environmental questions require launch of some EOS elements as soon as possible. They further require maintenance of the EOS objective of obtaining consistent 15-year measurement records.

Payload advisory panel recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Berrien, III

1991-11-01

The Payload Advisory Panel proposes a restructured Earth Observing System (EOS) mission to address high-priority science and environmental policy issues in Earth System Science. These issues have been identified through studies conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES). The restructured EOS defers efforts to improve the understanding of the middle and upper stratosphere and solid earth geophysics. The strategy of the mission combines high priority new measurements with continuation of critical data sets begun by missions which precede EOS. Collaborative arrangements with international partners are an essential part of the program and additional arrangements are posed. The need for continuity in Earth observations and the urgency of environmental questions require launch of some EOS elements as soon as possible. They further require maintenance of the EOS objective of obtaining consistent 15-year measurement records.

Educator Uses of Data-Enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education (DICCE), An Online System for Accessing a Vast Portal of NASA Earth System Data Known As the Goddard Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure (GIOVANNI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zalles, D. R.; Acker, J. G.

2015-12-01

Data-enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education (DICCE) has made it easier and more technologically feasible for secondary and post-secondary instructors and students to study climate change and related Earth system phenomena using data products from the Goddard Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure (GIOVANNI), a powerful portal of Earth observation data that provides access to numerous data products on Earth system phenomena representing the land biosphere, physical land, ocean biosphere, physical ocean, physical atmosphere, atmospheric gases, and energy and radiation system. These data products are derived from remote-sensing instruments on satellites, ground stations, and data assimilation models. Instructors and students can query the GIOVANNI data archive, then save the results as map images, time series plots, vertical profiles of the atmosphere, and data tables. Any part of the world can be selected for analysis. The project has also produced a tool for instructors to author and adapt standards-based lesson plans, student data investigation activities, and presentations around visualizations they make available to their students via DICCE-G. Supports are provided to students and teachers about how to interpret trends in data products of their choice at the regional level and a schema has been developed to help them understand how those data products fit into current scientific thinking about the certainties and uncertainties of climate change. The presentation will (1) describe the features of DICCE, (2) examples of curricula developed to make use of DICCE in classrooms, (3) how these curricula align to Next Generation Science Standards, and (4) how they align to science education research literature about how to make school science more engaging. Recently-analyzed teacher and student outcomes from DICCE use will also be reported.

Climate change, deforestation, and the fate of the Amazon.

PubMed

Malhi, Yadvinder; Roberts, J Timmons; Betts, Richard A; Killeen, Timothy J; Li, Wenhong; Nobre, Carlos A

2008-01-11

The forest biome of Amazonia is one of Earth's greatest biological treasures and a major component of the Earth system. This century, it faces the dual threats of deforestation and stress from climate change. Here, we summarize some of the latest findings and thinking on these threats, explore the consequences for the forest ecosystem and its human residents, and outline options for the future of Amazonia. We also discuss the implications of new proposals to finance preservation of Amazonian forests.

Enhanced EOS photovoltaic power system capability with InP solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Sheila G.; Weinberg, Irving; Flood, Dennis J.

1991-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS), which is part of the International Mission to Planet Earth, is NASA's main contribution to the Global Change Research Program which opens a new era in international cooperation to study the Earth's environment. Five large platforms are to be launched into polar orbit, two by NASA, two by ESA, and one by the Japanese. In such an orbit the radiation resistance of indium phosphide solar cells combined with the potential of utilizing five micron cell structures yields an increase of 10 percent in the payload capability. If further combined with the advanced photovoltaic solar array the payload savings approaches 12 percent.

The Role of NASA Observations in Understanding Earth System Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fladeland, Matthew M.

2009-01-01

This presentation will introduce a non-technical audience to NASA Earth science research goals and the technologies used to achieve them. The talk will outline the primary science focus areas and then provide overviews of current and planned missions, in addition to instruments, aircraft, and other technologies that are used to turn data into useful information for scientists and policy-makers. This presentation is part of an Earth Day symposium at the University of Mary.

US data policy for Earth observation from space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaffer, Lisa Robock

1992-01-01

Distribution of data from U.S. Earth observations satellites is subject to different data policies and regulations depending on whether the systems in question are operational or experimental. Specific laws, regulations, and policies are in place for the distribution of satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operational environmental satellites and from NASA experimental systems. There is a government wide policy for exchange of data for global change research. For the Earth Observing System (EOS) and its international partner programs, a set of data exchange principles is nearing completion. The debate over the future of the LANDSAT program in the U.S. will impact policy for the programs, but the outcome of the debate is not yet known.

Global change technology architecture trade study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrett, L. Bernard (Editor); Hypes, Warren D. (Editor); Wright, Robert L. (Editor)

1991-01-01

Described here is an architecture trade study conducted by the Langley Research Center to develop a representative mix of advanced space science instrumentation, spacecraft, and mission orbits to assist in the technology selection processes. The analyses concentrated on the highest priority classes of global change measurements which are the global climate changes. Issues addressed in the tradeoffs includes assessments of the economics of scale of large platforms with multiple instruments relative to smaller spacecraft; the influences of current and possible future launch vehicles on payload sizes, and on-orbit assembly decisions; and the respective roles of low-Earth versus geostationary Earth orbiting systems.

KSC-2009-1151

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-01-13

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. – In the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician monitors data during fueling of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, with hydrazine thruster control propellant. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The OCO mission will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. The launch of OCO is scheduled for Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. Photo credit: Robert Hargreaves Jr., VAFB

KSC-2009-1150

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-01-13

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. – In the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, preparations are under way to fuel NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, with hydrazine thruster control propellant. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The OCO mission will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. The launch of OCO is scheduled for Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. Photo credit: Robert Hargreaves Jr., VAFB

KSC-2009-1149

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-01-13

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. – In the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, preparations are under way to fuel NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, with hydrazine thruster control propellant. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The OCO mission will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. The launch of OCO is scheduled for Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. Photo credit: Robert Hargreaves Jr., VAFB

KSC-2009-1152

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-01-13

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. – In the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician monitors data during fueling of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, with hydrazine thruster control propellant. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The OCO mission will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. The launch of OCO is scheduled for Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. Photo credit: Robert Hargreaves Jr., VAFB

Discover Earth: An earth system science program for libraries and their communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtis, L.; Dusenbery, P.

2010-12-01

The view from space has deepened our understanding of Earth as a global, dynamic system. Instruments on satellites and spacecraft, coupled with advances in ground-based research, have provided us with astonishing new perspectives of our planet. Now more than ever, enhancing the public’s understanding of Earth’s physical and biological systems is vital to helping citizens make informed policy decisions especially when they are faced with the consequences of global climate change. In spite of this relevance, there are many obstacles to achieving broad public understanding of key earth system science (ESS) concepts. Strategies for addressing climate change can only succeed with the full engagement of the general public. As reported by U.S. News and World Report in 2010, small towns in rural America are emerging as the front line in the climate change debate in the country. The Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA), the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), and the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) have received funding from NSF to develop a national project called the STAR Library Education Network: a hands-on learning program for libraries and their communities (or STAR-Net for short). STAR stands for Science-Technology, Activities and Resources. There are two distinct components of STAR-Net: Discover Earth and Discover Tech. While the focus for education reform is on school improvement, there is considerable research that supports the role that out-of-school experiences can play in student achievement. Libraries provide an untapped resource for engaging underserved youth and their families in fostering an appreciation and deeper understanding of science and technology topics. The overarching goal of the project is to reach underserved youth and their families with informal STEM learning experiences. The Discover Earth part of STAR_Net will produce ESS resources and inquiry-based activities that libraries can use to enrich the exhibit experience (focused on weather and climate). Additional resources will be provided through partnerships with relevant professional science organizations (e.g. American Geophysical Union) that will provide speakers for host library events and webinars. Online and in-person workshops will be conducted for library staff with a focus on increasing content knowledge and improving facilitation expertise. This presentation will provide an overview of the Discover Earth project and how it will address climate change issues, engage AGU scientists, and impact rural libraries nationwide.

Climate and the Carbon Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manley, Jim

2017-04-01

Climate and the Carbon Cycle EOS3a Science in tomorrow's classroom Students, like too much of the American public, are largely unaware or apathetic to the changes in world climate and the impact that these changes have for life on Earth. A study conducted by Michigan State University and published in 2011 by Science Daily titled 'What carbon cycle? College students lack scientific literacy, study finds'. This study relates how 'most college students in the United States do not grasp the scientific basis of the carbon cycle - an essential skill in understanding the causes and consequences of climate change.' The study authors call for a new approach to teaching about climate. What if teachers better understood vital components of Earth's climate system and were able to impart his understanding to their students? What if students based their responses to the information taught not on emotion, but on a deeper understanding of the forces driving climate change, their analysis of the scientific evidence and in the context of earth system science? As a Middle School science teacher, I have been given the opportunity to use a new curriculum within TERC's EarthLabs collection, Climate and the Carbon Cycle, to awaken those brains and assist my students in making personal lifestyle choices based on what they had learned. In addition, with support from TERC and The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics I joined others to begin training other teachers on how to implement this curriculum in their classrooms to expose their students to our changing climate. Through my poster, I will give you (1) a glimpse into the challenges faced by today's science teachers in communicating the complicated, but ever-deepening understanding of the linkages between natural and human-driven factors on climate; (2) introduce you to a new module in the EarthLabs curriculum designed to expose teachers and students to global scientific climate data and instrumentation; and (3) illustrate how student worldviews are changed though exposure to the latest in scientific discovery and understanding.

The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Stations (WIPSS) Network in support of Space-Weather Science and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisi, M. M.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Jackson, B. V.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.; Tokumaru, M.; Chashei, I. V.; Tyul'bashev, S. A.; Manoharan, P. K.; Fallows, R. A.; Chang, O.; Mejia-Ambriz, J. C.; Yu, H. S.; Fujiki, K.; Shishov, V.

2016-12-01

The phenomenon of space weather - analogous to terrestrial weather which describes the changing low-altitude atmospheric conditions on Earth - is essentially a description of the changes in the plasma environment at and near the Earth. Some key parameters for space-weather purposes driving space weather at the Earth include velocity, density, magnetic field, high-energy particles, and radiation coming into and within the near-Earth space environment. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) can be used to provide a global measure of velocity and density as well as indications of changes in the plasma and magnetic-field rotations along each observational line of sight. If the observations are formally inverted into a three-dimensional (3-D) tomographic reconstruction (such as using the University of California, San Diego - UCSD - kinematic model and reconstruction technique), then source-surface magnetic fields can also be propagated out to the Earth (and beyond) as well as in-situ data also being incorporated into the reconstruction. Currently, this has been done using IPS data only from the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental (ISEE) and has been scientifically since the 1990s, and in a forecast mode since around 2000. There is now a defined IPS Common Data Format (IPSCDFv1.0) which is being implemented by the majority of the IPS community (this also feeds into the tomography). The Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network aims to bring together, using IPSCDFv1.0, the worldwide real-time capable IPS observatories with well-developed and tested analyses techniques being unified across all single-site systems (such as MEXART, Pushchino, and Ooty) and cross-calibrated to the multi-site ISEE system (as well as learning from the scientific-based systems such as EISCAT, LOFAR, and the MWA), into the UCSD 3-D tomography to improve the accuracy, spatial and temporal data coverage, and both the spatial and temporal resolution for improved space-weather science and forecast capabilities.

The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Stations (WIPSS) Network in support of Space-Weather Science and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisi, Mario Mark; Americo Gonzalez-Esparza, J.; Jackson, Bernard; Aguilar-Rodriguez, Ernesto; Tokumaru, Munetoshi; Chashei, Igor; Tyul'bashev, Sergey; Manoharan, Periasamy; Fallows, Richard; Chang, Oyuki; Yu, Hsiu-Shan; Fujiki, Ken'ichi; Shishov, Vladimir; Barnes, David

2017-04-01

The phenomenon of space weather - analogous to terrestrial weather which describes the changing low-altitude atmospheric conditions on Earth - is essentially a description of the changes in the plasma environment at and near the Earth. Some key parameters for space-weather purposes driving space weather at the Earth include velocity, density, magnetic field, high-energy particles, and radiation coming into and within the near-Earth space environment. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) can be used to provide a global measure of velocity and density as well as indications of changes in the plasma and magnetic-field rotations along each observational line of sight. If the observations are formally inverted into a three-dimensional (3-D) tomographic reconstruction (such as using the University of California, San Diego - UCSD - kinematic model and reconstruction technique), then source-surface magnetic fields can also be propagated out to the Earth (and beyond) as well as in-situ data also being incorporated into the reconstruction. Currently, this has been done using IPS data only from the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental (ISEE) and has been scientifically since the 1990s, and in a forecast mode since around 2000. There is now a defined (and updated) IPS Common Data Format (IPSCDFv1.1) which is being implemented by the majority of the IPS community (this also feeds into the UCSD tomography). The Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network aims to bring together, using IPSCDFv1.1, the worldwide real-time capable IPS observatories with well-developed and tested analyses techniques being unified across all single-site systems (such as MEXART, Pushchino, and Ooty) and cross-calibrated to the multi-site ISEE system (as well as learning from the scientific-based systems such as EISCAT, LOFAR, and the MWA), into the UCSD 3-D tomography to improve the accuracy, spatial and temporal data coverage, and both the spatial and temporal resolution for improved space-weather science and forecast capabilities.

A modern earth narrative: What will be the fate of the biosphere?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, R.S.

2000-01-01

The modern Earth Narrative is the scientific description of the natural and human history of the Earth, and it is based on two fundamental concepts: Deep (or Geologic) Time and Biological Evolution. Changes in the Earth's biosphere and geosphere are discussed from the perspective of natural variability and impacts of the rapid increase in the human population. The failure of humans to comprehend and understand the Earth Narrative, especially the place of humans in it, presages dire consequences for the Earth's biosphere. The actions humans take, individually and collectively, during the 21st century will likely determine the fate of many millions of species, including our own. It is argued that we must quickly establish an Earth System-based conservation ethic that has the objective of complete preservation of the Earth's biotic inheritance. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Progress in Research on Diurnal and Semidiurnal Earth Rotation Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Xueqing

2015-08-01

We mainly focus on the progress of research on high frequency changes in the earth rotation. Firstly, we review the development course and main motivating factors of the diurnal and semidiurnal earth rotation change. In recent decades, earth orientation has been monitored with increasing accuracy by advanced space-geodetic techniques, including lunar and satellite laser ranging, very long baseline interferometry and the global positioning system. We are able to obtain the Earth Rotation Parameters (ERP, polar motion and rotation rate changes) by even 1 to 2 hours observation data, form which obvious diurnal and semidiurnal signals can be detected, and compare them with the predicted results by the ocean model. Both the amplitude and phase are in good agreement in the main diurnal and semidiurnal wave frequency, especially for the UT1, whose compliance is 90%, and 60% for polar motion, there are 30% motivating factor of the diurnal and semidiurnal polar motion have not been identified. Then we comprehensively review the different types of global ocean tidal correction models since the last eighties century, as well as the application research on diurnal and semidiurnal polar motion and UT1, the current ocean tidal correction models have 10% to 20% uncertainty, and need for further refinement.

Short-period variability in terrestrial water storage from GNSS observations of Earth surface deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borsa, A. A.; Adusumilli, S.; Agnew, D. C.; Silverii, F.; Small, E. E.

2017-12-01

Modern geodetic observations of Earth surface deformation, initially targeted at processes such as tectonics and volcanism, also record the subtle signature of mass movements within Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere. These observations, which track the elastic response of the solid earth to changing surface mass loads, are clearly evident in position time series from permanent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations, which recent work has used to recover changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) over seasonal and multi-annual time scales. Earth's elastic reponse is nearly instantaneous, which suggests the possibility of observing TWS changes at much shorter periods, limited only by the 24 hour resolution of standard GNSS data products and noise in the GNSS position estimates. We present results showing that TWS increases from individual storms can be recovered using the GNSS network in the United States, and that the water mass changes are similar to gridded precipitation estimates from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The gradual decline we observe in TWS following each storm is diagnostic of runoff and local evapotranspiration, and varies by location. By greatly increasing the temporal resolution of GNSS-derived estimates of TWS, we hope to provide constraints on integrated water fluxes from hydrological models on all relevant timescales.

Looking Down on the Earth: How Satellites Have Revolutionized Our Understanding of Our Home Planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freilich, Michael

2017-04-01

Earth is a complex, dynamic system we do not yet fully understand. The Earth system, like the human body, comprises diverse components that interact in complex ways. We need to understand the Earth's atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere as a single connected system. Our planet is changing on all spatial and temporal scales. This presentation will highlight how satellite observations are revolutionizing our understanding of and its response to natural or human-induced changes, and to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards. Bio: MICHAEL H. FREILICH, Director of the Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Prior to NASA, he was a Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. He received Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Univ. of CA., San Diego) in 1982. Dr. Freilich's research focuses on the determination, validation, and geophysical analysis of ocean surface wind velocity measured by satellite-borne microwave radar and radiometer instruments. He has developed scatterometer and altimeter wind model functions, as well as innovative validation techniques for accurately quantifying the accuracy of spaceborne environmental measurements. Dr. Freilich has served on many NASA, National Research Council (NRC), and research community advisory and steering groups, including the WOCE Science Steering Committee, the NASA EOS Science Executive Committee, the NRC Ocean Studies Board, and several NASA data system review committees. Freilich's non-scientific passions include nature photography and soccer refereeing at the youth, high school, and adult levels.

Looking Down on the Earth: How Satellites Have Revolutionized Our Understanding of Our Home Planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freilich, Michael

2016-04-01

Earth is a complex, dynamic system we do not yet fully understand. The Earth system, like the human body, comprises diverse components that interact in complex ways. We need to understand the Earth's atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere as a single connected system. Our planet is changing on all spatial and temporal scales. This presentation will highlight how satellite observations are revolutionizing our understanding of and its response to natural or human-induced changes, and to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards. Bio: MICHAEL H. FREILICH, Director of the Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Prior to NASA, he was a Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. He received Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Univ. of CA., San Diego) in 1982. Dr. Freilich's research focuses on the determination, validation, and geophysical analysis of ocean surface wind velocity measured by satellite-borne microwave radar and radiometer instruments. He has developed scatterometer and altimeter wind model functions, as well as innovative validation techniques for accurately quantifying the accuracy of spaceborne environmental measurements. Dr. Freilich has served on many NASA, National Research Council (NRC), and research community advisory and steering groups, including the WOCE Science Steering Committee, the NASA EOS Science Executive Committee, the NRC Ocean Studies Board, and several NASA data system review committees. Freilich's non-scientific passions include nature photography and soccer refereeing at the youth, high school, and adult levels.

The terminal Eocene event - Formation of a ring system around the earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Okeefe, J. A.

1980-01-01

It is suggested that the formation of a ring system about the earth by particles and debris related to the North American strewn tektite field is responsible for the terminal Eocene event of 34 million years ago, in which severe climatic changes accompanied by widespread biological extinctions occurred. Botanical data is cited which implies a 20-C decrease in winter temperature with no change in summer temperature, and evidence of the correlation of the North American tektite fall, which is estimated to have a total mass of 10 to the 9th to 10 to the 10th tons, with the disappearance of five of the most abundant species of radiolaria is presented. The possible connection between the tektites and climatic change is argued to result from the screening of sunlight by an equatorial ring of trapped particles of extraterrestrial origin in geocentric orbit which would cut off sunlight only in the winter months. Such a ring, located at a distance of between 1.5 and 2.5 earth radii (the Roche limit) is estimated to have a lifetime of a few million years.

Earth Systems Questions in Experimental Climate Change Science: Pressing Questions and Necessary Facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Osmond, B.

2002-05-20

Sixty-four scientists from universities, national laboratories, and other research institutions worldwide met to evaluate the feasibility and potential of the Biosphere2 Laboratory (B2L) as an inclusive multi-user scientific facility (i.e., a facility open to researchers from all institutions, according to agreed principles of access) for earth system studies and engineering research, education, and training relevant to the mission of the United States Department of Energy (DOE).

Collateral transgression of planetary boundaries due to climate engineering by terrestrial carbon dioxide removal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heck, Vera; Donges, Jonathan F.; Lucht, Wolfgang

2016-10-01

The planetary boundaries framework provides guidelines for defining thresholds in environmental variables. Their transgression is likely to result in a shift in Earth system functioning away from the relatively stable Holocene state. As the climate system is approaching critical thresholds of atmospheric carbon, several climate engineering methods are discussed, aiming at a reduction of atmospheric carbon concentrations to control the Earth's energy balance. Terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) via afforestation or bioenergy production with carbon capture and storage are part of most climate change mitigation scenarios that limit global warming to less than 2 °C. We analyse the co-evolutionary interaction of societal interventions via tCDR and the natural dynamics of the Earth's carbon cycle. Applying a conceptual modelling framework, we analyse how the degree of anticipation of the climate problem and the intensity of tCDR efforts with the aim of staying within a "safe" level of global warming might influence the state of the Earth system with respect to other carbon-related planetary boundaries. Within the scope of our approach, we show that societal management of atmospheric carbon via tCDR can lead to a collateral transgression of the planetary boundary of land system change. Our analysis indicates that the opportunities to remain in a desirable region within carbon-related planetary boundaries only exist for a small range of anticipation levels and depend critically on the underlying emission pathway. While tCDR has the potential to ensure the Earth system's persistence within a carbon-safe operating space under low-emission pathways, it is unlikely to succeed in a business-as-usual scenario.

Sensitivity of the carbon cycle in the Arctic to climate change

Treesearch

A.D. McGuire; L.G. Anderson; T.R. Christensen; S. Dallimore; L. Guo; D.J. Hayes; M. Heimann; T.D. Lorenson; R.W. Macdonald; N. Roulet

2009-01-01

The recent warming in the Arctic is affecting a broad spectrum of physical, ecological, and human/cultural systems that may be irreversible on century time scales and have the potential to cause rapid changes in the earth system. The response of the carbon cycle of the Arctic to changes in climate is a major issue of global concern, yet there has not been a...

Compensation for effects of ambient temperature on rare-earth doped fiber optic thermometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adamovsky, G.; Sotomayor, J. L.; Krasowski, M. J.; Eustace, J. G.

1989-01-01

Variations in ambient temperature have a negative effect on the performance of any fiber optic sensing system. A change in ambient temperature may alter the design parameters of fiber optic cables, connectors, sources, detectors, and other fiber optic components and eventually the performance of the entire system. The thermal stability of components is especially important in a system which employs intensity modulated sensors. Several referencing schemes have been developed to account for the variable losses that occur within the system. However, none of these conventional compensating techniques can be used to stabilize the thermal drift of the light source in a system based on the spectral properties of the sensor material. The compensation for changes in ambient temperature becomes especially important in fiber optic thermometers doped with rare earths. Different approaches to solving this problem are searched and analyzed.

Compensation for effects of ambient temperature on rare-earth doped fiber optic thermometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adamovsky, G.; Sotomayor, J. L.; Krasowski, M. J.; Eustace, J. G.

1990-01-01

Variations in ambient temperature have a negative effect on the performance of any fiber optic sensing system. A change in ambient temperature may alter the design parameters of fiber optic cables, connectors, sources, detectors, and other fiber optic components and eventually the performance of the entire system. The thermal stability of components is especially important in a system which employs intensity modulated sensors. Several referencing schemes have been developed to account for the variable losses that occur within the system. However, none of these conventional compensating techniques can be used to stabilize the thermal drift of the light source in a system based on the spectral properties of the sensor material. The compensation for changes in ambient temperature becomes especially important in fiber optic thermometers doped with rare earths. Different approaches to solving this problem are searched and analyzed.

Monitoring Earth Surface Dynamics With Optical Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leprince, Sébastien; Berthier, Etienne; Ayoub, François; Delacourt, Christophe; Avouac, Jean-Philippe

2008-01-01

The increasing availability of high-quality optical satellite images should allow, in principle, continuous monitoring of Earth's surface changes due to geologic processes, climate change, or anthropic activity. For instance, sequential optical images have been used to measure displacements at Earth's surface due to coseismic ground deformation [e.g., Van Puymbroeck et al., 2000], ice flow [Scambos et al., 1992; Berthier et al., 2005], sand dune migration [Crippen, 1992], and landslides [Kääb, 2002; Delacourt et al., 2004]. Surface changes related to agriculture, deforestation, urbanization, and erosion-which do not involve ground displacement-might also be monitored, provided that the images can be registered with sufficient accuracy. Although the approach is simple in principle, its use is still limited, mainly because of geometric distortion of the images induced by the imaging system, biased correlation techniques, and implementation difficulties.

Forest biogeochemistry in response to drought.

PubMed

Schlesinger, William H; Dietze, Michael C; Jackson, Robert B; Phillips, Richard P; Rhoades, Charles C; Rustad, Lindsey E; Vose, James M

2016-07-01

Trees alter their use and allocation of nutrients in response to drought, and changes in soil nutrient cycling and trace gas flux (N2 O and CH4 ) are observed when experimental drought is imposed on forests. In extreme droughts, trees are increasingly susceptible to attack by pests and pathogens, which can lead to major changes in nutrient flux to the soil. Extreme droughts often lead to more common and more intense forest fires, causing dramatic changes in the nutrient storage and loss from forest ecosystems. Changes in the future manifestation of drought will affect carbon uptake and storage in forests, leading to feedbacks to the Earth's climate system. We must improve the recognition of drought in nature, our ability to manage our forests in the face of drought, and the parameterization of drought in earth system models for improved predictions of carbon uptake and storage in the world's forests. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Alaska's Secondary Science Teachers and Students Receive Earth Systems Science Knowledge, GIS Know How and University Technical Support for Pre- College Research Experiences: The EDGE Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connor, C. L.; Prakash, A.

2007-12-01

Alaska's secondary school teachers are increasingly required to provide Earth systems science (ESS) education that integrates student observations of local natural processes related to rapid climate change with geospatial datasets and satellite imagery using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. Such skills are also valued in various employment sectors of the state where job opportunities requiring Earth science and GIS training are increasing. University of Alaska's EDGE (Experiential Discoveries in Geoscience Education) program has provided training and classroom resources for 3 cohorts of inservice Alaska science and math teachers in GIS and Earth Systems Science (2005-2007). Summer workshops include geologic field experiences, GIS instruction, computer equipment and technical support for groups of Alaska high school (HS) and middle school (MS) science teachers each June and their students in August. Since 2005, EDGE has increased Alaska science and math teachers' Earth science content knowledge and developed their GIS and computer skills. In addition, EDGE has guided teachers using a follow-up, fall online course that provided more extensive ESS knowledge linked with classroom standards and provided course content that was directly transferable into their MS and HS science classrooms. EDGE teachers were mentored by University faculty and technical staff as they guided their own students through semester-scale, science fair style projects using geospatial data that was student- collected. EDGE program assessment indicates that all teachers have improved their ESS knowledge, GIS knowledge, and the use of technology in their classrooms. More than 230 middle school students have learned GIS, from EDGE teachers and 50 EDGE secondary students have conducted original research related to landscape change and its impacts on their own communities. Longer-term EDGE goals include improving student performance on the newly implemented (spring 2008) 10th grade, standards-based, High School Qualifying Exam, on recruiting first-generation college students, and on increasing the number of Earth science majors in the University of Alaska system.

Monitoring issues from a modeling perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahlman, Jerry D.

1993-01-01

Recognition that earth's climate and biogeophysical conditions are likely changing due to human activities has led to a heightened awareness of the need for improved long-term global monitoring. The present long-term measurement efforts tend to be spotty in space, inadequately calibrated in time, and internally inconsistent with respect to other instruments and measured quantities. In some cases, such as most of the biosphere, most chemicals, and much of the ocean, even a minimal monitoring program is not available. Recently, it has become painfully evident that emerging global change issues demand information and insights that the present global monitoring system simply cannot supply. This is because a monitoring system must provide much more than a statement of change at a given level of statistical confidence. It must describe changes in diverse parts of the entire earth system on regional to global scales. It must be able to provide enough input to allow an integrated physical characterization of the changes that have occurred. Finally, it must allow a separation of the observed changes into their natural and anthropogenic parts. The enormous policy significance of global change virtually guarantees an unprecedented level of scrutiny of the changes in the earth system and why they are happening. These pressures create a number of emerging challenges and opportunities. For example, they will require a growing partnership between the observational programs and the theory/modeling community. Without this partnership, the scientific community will likely fall short in the monitoring effort. The monitoring challenge before us is not to solve the problem now, but rather to set appropriate actions in motion so as to create the required framework for solution. Each individual piece needs to establish its role in the large problem and how the required interactions are to take place. Below, we emphasize some of the needs and opportunities that could and should be addressed through participation by the theoreticians and modelers in the global change monitoring effort.

Scientific drilling and the evolution of the earth system: climate, biota, biogeochemistry and extreme systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soreghan, G. S.; Cohen, A. S.

2013-11-01

A US National Science Foundation-funded workshop occurred 17-19 May 2013 at the University of Oklahoma to stimulate research using continental scientific drilling to explore earth's sedimentary, paleobiological and biogeochemical record. Participants submitted 3-page "pre-proposals" to highlight projects that envisioned using drill-core studies to address scientific issues in paleobiology, paleoclimatology, stratigraphy and biogeochemistry, and to identify locations where key questions can best be addressed. The workshop was also intended to encourage US scientists to take advantage of the exceptional capacity of unweathered, continuous core records to answer important questions in the history of earth's sedimentary, biogeochemical and paleobiologic systems. Introductory talks on drilling and coring methods, plus best practices in core handling and curation, opened the workshop to enable all to understand the opportunities and challenges presented by scientific drilling. Participants worked in thematic breakout sessions to consider questions to be addressed using drill cores related to glacial-interglacial and icehouse-greenhouse transitions, records of evolutionary events and extinctions, records of major biogeochemical events in the oceans, reorganization of earth's atmosphere, Lagerstätte and exceptional fossil biota, records of vegetation-landscape change, and special sampling requirements, contamination, and coring tool concerns for paleobiology, geochemistry, geochronology, and stratigraphy-sedimentology studies. Closing discussions at the workshop focused on the role drilling can play in studying overarching science questions about the evolution of the earth system. The key theme, holding the most impact in terms of societal relevance, is understanding how climate transitions have driven biotic change, and the role of pristine, stratigraphically continuous cores in advancing our understanding of this linkage. Scientific drilling, and particularly drilling applied to continental targets, provides unique opportunities to obtain continuous and unaltered material for increasingly sophisticated analyses, tapping the entire geologic record (extending through the Archean), and probing the full dynamic range of climate change and its impact on biotic history.

Global situational awareness and early warning of high-consequence climate change.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Backus, George A.; Carr, Martin J.; Boslough, Mark Bruce Elrick

2009-08-01

Global monitoring systems that have high spatial and temporal resolution, with long observational baselines, are needed to provide situational awareness of the Earth's climate system. Continuous monitoring is required for early warning of high-consequence climate change and to help anticipate and minimize the threat. Global climate has changed abruptly in the past and will almost certainly do so again, even in the absence of anthropogenic interference. It is possible that the Earth's climate could change dramatically and suddenly within a few years. An unexpected loss of climate stability would be equivalent to the failure of an engineered system on amore » grand scale, and would affect billions of people by causing agricultural, economic, and environmental collapses that would cascade throughout the world. The probability of such an abrupt change happening in the near future may be small, but it is nonzero. Because the consequences would be catastrophic, we argue that the problem should be treated with science-informed engineering conservatism, which focuses on various ways a system can fail and emphasizes inspection and early detection. Such an approach will require high-fidelity continuous global monitoring, informed by scientific modeling.« less

In Brief: European Earth science network for postdocs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

2008-12-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a new initiative called the Changing Earth Science Network, to support young scientists undertaking leading-edge research activities aimed at advancing the understanding of the Earth system. The initiative will enable up to 10 young postdoctoral researchers from the agency's member states to address major scientific challenges by using Earth observation (EO) satellite data from ESA and its third-party missions. The initiative aims to foster the development of a network of young scientists in Europe with a good knowledge of the agency and its EO programs. Selected candidates will have the option to carry out part of their research in an ESA center as a visiting scientist. The deadline to submit proposals is 16 January 2009. Selections will be announced in early 2009. The Changing Earth Science Network was developed as one of the main programmatic components of ESA's Support to Science Element, launched in 2008. For more information, visit http://www.esa.int/stse.

Collaborative Supercomputing for Global Change Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemani, R.; Votava, P.; Michaelis, A.; Melton, F.; Milesi, C.

2011-03-01

There is increasing pressure on the science community not only to understand how recent and projected changes in climate will affect Earth's global environment and the natural resources on which society depends but also to design solutions to mitigate or cope with the likely impacts. Responding to this multidimensional challenge requires new tools and research frameworks that assist scientists in collaborating to rapidly investigate complex interdisciplinary science questions of critical societal importance. One such collaborative research framework, within the NASA Earth sciences program, is the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX). NEX combines state-of-the-art supercomputing, Earth system modeling, remote sensing data from NASA and other agencies, and a scientific social networking platform to deliver a complete work environment. In this platform, users can explore and analyze large Earth science data sets, run modeling codes, collaborate on new or existing projects, and share results within or among communities (see Figure S1 in the online supplement to this Eos issue (http://www.agu.org/eos_elec)).

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics and maximum entropy production in the Earth system: applications and implications.

PubMed

Kleidon, Axel

2009-06-01

The Earth system is maintained in a unique state far from thermodynamic equilibrium, as, for instance, reflected in the high concentration of reactive oxygen in the atmosphere. The myriad of processes that transform energy, that result in the motion of mass in the atmosphere, in oceans, and on land, processes that drive the global water, carbon, and other biogeochemical cycles, all have in common that they are irreversible in their nature. Entropy production is a general consequence of these processes and measures their degree of irreversibility. The proposed principle of maximum entropy production (MEP) states that systems are driven to steady states in which they produce entropy at the maximum possible rate given the prevailing constraints. In this review, the basics of nonequilibrium thermodynamics are described, as well as how these apply to Earth system processes. Applications of the MEP principle are discussed, ranging from the strength of the atmospheric circulation, the hydrological cycle, and biogeochemical cycles to the role that life plays in these processes. Nonequilibrium thermodynamics and the MEP principle have potentially wide-ranging implications for our understanding of Earth system functioning, how it has evolved in the past, and why it is habitable. Entropy production allows us to quantify an objective direction of Earth system change (closer to vs further away from thermodynamic equilibrium, or, equivalently, towards a state of MEP). When a maximum in entropy production is reached, MEP implies that the Earth system reacts to perturbations primarily with negative feedbacks. In conclusion, this nonequilibrium thermodynamic view of the Earth system shows great promise to establish a holistic description of the Earth as one system. This perspective is likely to allow us to better understand and predict its function as one entity, how it has evolved in the past, and how it is modified by human activities in the future.

EarthCube - Results of Test Governance in Geoscience Cyberinfrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, R.; Allison, M. L.; Keane, C. M.; Robinson, E.

2016-12-01

In September 2016, the EarthCube Test Enterprise Governance Project completed its three-year long process to engage the community and test a demonstration governing organization with the goal of facilitating a community-led process on designing and developing a geoscience cyberinfrastructure to transform geoscience research. The EarthCube initiative is making an important transition from creating a coherent community towards adoption and implemention of technologies that can serve scientists working in and across many domains. The emerging concept of a "system of systems" approach to cyberinfrastructure architecture is a critical concept in the EarthCube program, but has not been fully defined. Recommendations from an NSF-appointed Advisory Committee include: a. developing a succinct definition of EarthCube; b. changing the community-elected governance approach towards structured rather than consensus-driven decision-making; c. restructuring the process to articulate program solicitations; and d. producing an effective implementation roadmap. These are seen as prerequisites to adoption of best practices, system concepts, and evolving to a production track. The EarthCube governing body is preparing responses to the Advisory Committee findings and recommendations with a target delivery date of late 2016 but broader involvement may be warranted. We conclude that there is ample justification to continue evolving to a governance framework that facilitates convergence on a system architecture that guides EarthCube activities and plays an influential role in making operational the EarthCube vision of cyberinfrastructure for the geosciences. There is widespread community expectation for support of a multiyear EarthCube governing effort to put into practice the science, technical, and organizational plans that are continuing to emerge. However, the active participants in EarthCube represent a small sub-set of the larger population of geoscientists.

New Directions in Land Remote Sensing Policy and International Cooperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stryker, Timothy

2010-12-01

Recent changes to land remote sensing satellite data policies in Brazil and the United States have led to the phenomenal growth in the delivery of land imagery to users worldwide. These new policies, which provide free and unrestricted access to land remote sensing data over a standard electronic interface, are expected to provide significant benefits to scientific and operational users, and open up new areas of Earth system science research and environmental monitoring. Freely-available data sets from the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites (CBERS), the U.S. Landsat satellites, and other satellite missions provide essential information for land surface monitoring, ecosystems management, disaster mitigation, and climate change research. These missions are making important contributions to the goals and objectives of regional and global terrestrial research and monitoring programs. These programs are in turn providing significant support to the goals and objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC), the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and the UN Reduction in Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) program. These data policies are well-aligned with the "Data Democracy" initiative undertaken by the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), through its current Chair, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, or INPE), and its former chairs, South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Thailand's Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA). Comparable policies for land imaging data are under consideration within Europe and Canada. Collectively, these initiatives have the potential to accelerate and improve international mission collaboration, and greatly enhance the access, use, and application of land surface imagery for environmental monitoring and societal adaption to changing climate conditions.

Biogenic volatile organic compounds in the Earth system.

PubMed

Laothawornkitkul, Jullada; Taylor, Jane E; Paul, Nigel D; Hewitt, C Nicholas

2009-01-01

Biogenic volatile organic compounds produced by plants are involved in plant growth, development, reproduction and defence. They also function as communication media within plant communities, between plants and between plants and insects. Because of the high chemical reactivity of many of these compounds, coupled with their large mass emission rates from vegetation into the atmosphere, they have significant effects on the chemical composition and physical characteristics of the atmosphere. Hence, biogenic volatile organic compounds mediate the relationship between the biosphere and the atmosphere. Alteration of this relationship by anthropogenically driven changes to the environment, including global climate change, may perturb these interactions and may lead to adverse and hard-to-predict consequences for the Earth system.

The Functionally-Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator Version 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Chonggang; Christoffersen, Bradley

The Functionally-Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES) is a vegetation model for use in Earth system models (ESMs). The model includes a size- and age-structured representation of tree dynamics, competition between functionally diverse plant functional types, and the biophysics underpinning plant growth, competition, mortality, as well as the carbon, water, and energy exchange with the atmosphere. The FATES model is designed as a modular vegetation model that can be integrated within a host land model for inclusion in ESMs. The model is designed for use in global change studies to understand and project the responses and feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems andmore » the Earth system under changing climate and other forcings.« less

Future Earth -- New Approaches to address Climate Change and Sustainability in the MENA Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Manfred; Abu Alhaija, Rana

2016-04-01

Interactions and feedbacks between rapidly increasing multiple pressures on water, energy and food security drive social-ecological systems at multiple scales towards critical thresholds in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Region). These pressures, including climate change, the growing demand on resources and resource degradation, urbanization and globalization, cause unprecedented challenges for countries and communities in the region. Responding to these challenges requires integrated science and a closer relationship with policy makers and stakeholders. Future Earth has been designed to respond to these urgent needs. In order to pursue such objectives, Future Earth is becoming the host organization for some 23 programs that were previously run under four global environmental change programmes, DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). Some further projects arose out of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). It thus brings together a wide spectrum of expertise and knowledge that will be instrumental in tackling urgent problems in the MENA region and the wider Mediterranean Basin. Future Earth is being administered by a globally distributed secretariat that also includes a series of Regional Centers, which will be the nuclei for the development of new regional networks. The Cyprus Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus (CyI; www.cyi.ac.cy) is hosting the Regional Center for the MENA Region. The CyI is a non-profit research and post-graduate education institution with a strong scientific and technological orientation and a distinctive regional, Eastern Mediterranean scope. Cyprus at the crossroads of three continents and open to all nations in the region provides excellent conditions for advancing the research agenda of Future Earth in the MENA Region. Given the recent and ongoing major political and societal transformation in the region, research and development that help prepare the MENA countries for anticipated global changes and advance the development of sustainable structures are not only meaningful, but also a quite challenging undertakings.

NASA Composite Cryotank Technology Project Game Changing Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fikes, John

2015-01-01

The fundamental goal of this project was to provide new and innovative cryotank technologies that enable human space exploration to destinations beyond low earth orbit such as the moon, near-earth asteroids, and Mars. The goal ... to mature technologies in preparation for potential system level flight demonstrations through significant ground-based testing and/or laboratory experimentation

Lunar Module Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Interbartolo, Michael A.

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the Apollo lunar module communications. It describes several changes in terminology from the Apollo era to more recent terms. It reviews: (1) Lunar Module Antennas and Functions (2). Earth Line of Sight Communications Links (3) No Earth Line of Sight Communications Links (4) Lunar Surface Communications Links (5) Signal-Processing Assembly (6) Instrumentation System (7) Some Communications Problems Encountered

Dwelling in the Anthropocene: Reimagining University Learning Environments in Response to Social and Ecological Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rousell, David

2016-01-01

Over the last three decades, scientists have uncovered the extent of human impacts on the earth's operating systems with increasing clarity and precision. These findings have prompted scientific claims that we have transitioned out of the Holocene and into the Anthropocene epoch in the earth's geological history (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000). At…

Pull vs. Push: How OmniEarth Delivers Better Earth Observation Information to Subscribers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fish, C.; Slagowski, S.; Dyrud, L.; Fentzke, J.; Hargis, B.; Steerman, M.

2015-04-01

Until very recently, the commercialization of Earth observation systems has largely occurred in two ways: either through the detuning of government satellites or the repurposing of NASA (or other science) data for commercial use. However, the convergence of cloud computing and low-cost satellites is enabling Earth observation companies to tailor observation data to specific markets. Now, underserved constituencies, such as agriculture and energy, can tap into Earth observation data that is provided at a cadence, resolution and cost that can have a real impact to their bottom line. To connect with these markets, OmniEarth fuses data from a variety of sources, synthesizes it into useful and valuable business information, and delivers it to customers via web or mobile interfaces. The "secret sauce" is no longer about having the highest resolution imagery, but rather it is about using that imagery - in conjunction with a number of other sources - to solve complex problems that require timely and contextual information about our dynamic and changing planet. OmniEarth improves subscribers' ability to visualize the world around them by enhancing their ability to see, analyze, and react to change in real time through a solutions-as-a-service platform.

Dust influx into the northern Indian Ocean over the last 1.5 Myr.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunkelová, Tereza; Kroon, Dick; Jung, Simon; de Leau, Erica S.; Odling, Nicholas; Spezzaferri, Silvia; Hayman, Stephanie; Alonso-Garcia, Montserrat; Wright, James D.; Alvarez Zarikian, Carlos; Betzler, Christian; Eberli, Gregor P.; Jovane, Luigi; Laya, Juan Carlos; Hui-Mee, Anna Ling; Reijmer, John; Reolid, Jesus; Sloss, Craig R.

2017-04-01

Over the last 2 Ma the Earth's climate has been profoundly affected by quasi-periodic changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The Earth's climate reflects cooling and warming associated with this orbital forcing, such as periods of glaciation and warmer interglacials, variations in sea surface temperatures and changes in global wind patterns. During glacial periods, dust input into the oceans increased as a result of stronger surface winds and greater source area from increased desertification. At low latitudes, the seasonality of monsoonal wind direction controls dust transport into the ocean. This research identifies the main controls on dust influx into the northern Indian Ocean over the last 1.5 Ma by analyzing the first high resolution marine sediment record from the Maldives carbonate platform (IODP Expedition 359; Site U1467), an area strongly affected by the monsoon seasons. Here we present variations in the concentration of specific normalized elements, from X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, reflecting the chemistry of the dust particles and source areas. The new dust record will be compared to other records of climate change, mainly from the North Atlantic, to investigate the degree of coupling between driving forces in the Earth's climate in the northern hemisphere. The results of this study will aid our understanding of the monsoon system, low latitude desertification, and the degree of climate coupling, essential for predicting the response of the system to future anthropogenic climate change.

NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Centers Near Real-Time Data Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davenport, T.; Parker, L.; Rinsland, P. L.

2014-12-01

Over the past decade the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center has archived and distributed a variety of satellite mission data sets. NASA's goal in Earth science is to observe, understand, and model the Earth system to discover how it is changing, to better predict change, and to understand the consequences for life on Earth. The ASDC has collaborated with Science Teams to accommodate emerging science users in the climate and modeling communities. The ASDC has expanded its original role to support operational usage by related Earth Science satellites, support land and ocean assimilations, support of field campaigns, outreach programs, and application projects for agriculture and energy industries to bridge the gap between Earth science research results and the adoption of data and prediction capabilities for reliable and sustained use in Decision Support Systems (DSS). For example; these products are being used by the community performing data assimilations to regulate aerosol mass in global transport models to improve model response and forecast accuracy, to assess the performance of components of a global coupled atmospheric-ocean climate model, improve atmospheric motion vector (winds) impact on numerical weather prediction models, and to provide internet-based access to parameters specifically tailored to assist in the design of solar and wind powered renewable energy systems. These more focused applications often require Near Real-Time (NRT) products. Generating NRT products pose their own unique set challenges for the ASDC and the Science Teams. Examples of ASDC NRT products and challenges will be discussed.

Guidance and control 1992; Proceedings of the 15th Annual AAS Rocky Mountain Conference, Keystone, CO, Feb. 8-12, 1992

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Culp, Robert D.; Zietz, Richard P.

The present volume on guidance and control discusses advances in guidance, navigation, and control, guidance and control storyboard displays, space robotic control, spacecraft control and flexible body interaction, and the Mission to Planet Earth. Attention is given to applications of Newton's method to attitude determination, a new family of low-cost momentum/reaction wheels, stellar attitude data handling, and satellite life prediction using propellant quantity measurements. Topics addressed include robust manipulator controller specification and design, implementations and applications of a manipulator control testbed, optimizing transparency in teleoperator architectures, and MIMO system identification using frequency response data. Also discussed are instrument configurations for the restructured Earth Observing System, the HIRIS instrument, clouds and the earth's radiant energy system, and large space-based systems for dealing with global change.

Earth system modelling on system-level heterogeneous architectures: EMAC (version 2.42) on the Dynamical Exascale Entry Platform (DEEP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christou, Michalis; Christoudias, Theodoros; Morillo, Julián; Alvarez, Damian; Merx, Hendrik

2016-09-01

We examine an alternative approach to heterogeneous cluster-computing in the many-core era for Earth system models, using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Hamburg (ECHAM)/Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model as a pilot application on the Dynamical Exascale Entry Platform (DEEP). A set of autonomous coprocessors interconnected together, called Booster, complements a conventional HPC Cluster and increases its computing performance, offering extra flexibility to expose multiple levels of parallelism and achieve better scalability. The EMAC model atmospheric chemistry code (Module Efficiently Calculating the Chemistry of the Atmosphere (MECCA)) was taskified with an offload mechanism implemented using OmpSs directives. The model was ported to the MareNostrum 3 supercomputer to allow testing with Intel Xeon Phi accelerators on a production-size machine. The changes proposed in this paper are expected to contribute to the eventual adoption of Cluster-Booster division and Many Integrated Core (MIC) accelerated architectures in presently available implementations of Earth system models, towards exploiting the potential of a fully Exascale-capable platform.

Undergraduate Students as Climate Communicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharif, H. O.; Joseph, J.; Mullendore, G. L.

2012-12-01

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), San Antonio College (SAC), and the University of North Dakota (UND) are partnering with NASA to provide underrepresented undergraduates from UTSA, SAC, and other community colleges climate-related research and education experiences. The program aims to develop a robust response to climate change by providing K-16 climate change education; enhance the effectiveness of K-16 education particularly in engineering and other STEM disciplines by use of new instructional technologies; increase the enrollment in engineering programs and the number of engineering degrees awarded by showing engineering's usefulness in relation to the much-discussed contemporary issue of climate change; increase persistence in STEM degrees by providing student research opportunities; and increase the ethnic diversity of those receiving engineering degrees and help ensure an ethnically diverse response to climate change. Students will have the opportunity to participate in guided research experiences aligned with NASA Science Plan objectives for climate and Earth system science and the educational objectives of the three institutions. An integral part of the learning process will include training in modern media technology (webcasts), and in using this technology to communicate the information on climate change to others, especially high school students, culminating in production of a webcast about investigating aspects of climate change using NASA data. Content developed is leveraged by NASA Earth observation data and NASA Earth system models and tools. Several departments are involved in the educational program.

Results of scatterometer systems analysis for NASA/MSC Earth Observation Sensor Evaluation Program.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishen, K.; Vlahos, N.; Brandt, O.; Graybeal, G.

1971-01-01

Radar scatterometers have applications in the NASA/MSC Earth Observation Aircraft Program. Over a period of several years, several missions have been flown over both land and ocean. In this paper a system evaluation of the NASA/MSC 13.3-GHz Scatterometer System is presented. The effects of phase error between the Scatterometer channels, antenna pattern deviations, aircraft attitude deviations, environmental changes, and other related factors such as processing errors, system repeatability, and propeller modulation, were established. Furthermore, the reduction in system errors and calibration improvement was investigated by taking into account these parameter deviations. Typical scatterometer data samples are presented.

Earth System Science Education Modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, C.; Kaufman, C.; Humphreys, R. R.; Colgan, M. W.

2009-12-01

The College of Charleston is developing several new geoscience-based education modules for integration into the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA). These three new modules provide opportunities for science and pre-service education students to participate in inquiry-based, data-driven experiences. The three new modules will be discussed in this session. Coastal Crisis is a module that analyzes rapidly changing coastlines and uses technology - remotely sensed data and geographic information systems (GIS) to delineate, understand and monitor changes in coastal environments. The beaches near Charleston, SC are undergoing erosion and therefore are used as examples of rapidly changing coastlines. Students will use real data from NASA, NOAA and other federal agencies in the classroom to study coastal change. Through this case study, learners will acquire remotely sensed images and GIS data sets from online sources, utilize those data sets within Google Earth or other visualization programs, and understand what the data is telling them. Analyzing the data will allow learners to contemplate and make predictions on the impact associated with changing environmental conditions, within the context of a coastal setting. To Drill or Not To Drill is a multidisciplinary problem based module to increase students’ knowledge of problems associated with nonrenewable resource extraction. The controversial topic of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) examines whether the economic benefit of the oil extracted from ANWR is worth the social cost of the environmental damage that such extraction may inflict. By attempting to answer this question, learners must balance the interests of preservation with the economic need for oil. The learners are exposed to the difficulties associated with a real world problem that requires trade-off between environmental trust and economic well-being. The Citizen Science module challenges students to translate scientific information into words that are understandable and useful for policy makers and other stakeholders. The inability of scientists to effectively communicate with the public has been highlighted as a major reason for the anti-science attitude of a large segment of the public. This module, unlike other ESSEA modules, addresses this problem by first, investigating a global change environmental problem using Earth System Science methodologies, then developing several solutions to that problem, and finally writing a position paper for the policy makers to use. These three hands-on, real-world modules that engage students in authentic research share similar goals: 1) to use global change data sets to examine controversial environmental problems; 2) to use an earth system science approach to understand the complexity of global problems; and 3) to help students understand the political complexity of environmental problems where there is a clash between economic and ecological problems. The curriculum will meet National Standards in science, geography, math, etc.

The CICT Earth Science Systems Analysis Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pell, Barney; Coughlan, Joe; Biegel, Bryan; Stevens, Ken; Hansson, Othar; Hayes, Jordan

2004-01-01

Contents include the following: Computing Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Systems Analysis. Our modeling approach: a 3-part schematic investment model of technology change, impact assessment and prioritization. A whirlwind tour of our model. Lessons learned.

A Shifting Shield Provides Protection Against Cosmic Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-12-01

The Sun plays an important role in protecting us from cosmic rays, energetic particles that pelt us from outside our solar system. But can we predict when and how it will provide the most protection, and use this to minimize the damage to both pilotedand roboticspace missions?The Challenge of Cosmic RaysSpacecraft outside of Earths atmosphere and magnetic field are at risk of damage from cosmic rays. [ESA]Galactic cosmic rays are high-energy, charged particles that originate from astrophysical processes like supernovae or even distant active galactic nuclei outside of our solar system.One reason to care about the cosmic rays arriving near Earth is because these particles can provide a significant challenge for space missions traveling above Earths protective atmosphere and magnetic field. Since impacts from cosmic rays can damage human DNA, this risk poses a major barrier to plans for interplanetary travel by crewed spacecraft. And roboticmissions arent safe either: cosmic rays can flip bits, wreaking havoc on spacecraft electronics as well.The magnetic field carried by the solar wind provides a protective shield, deflecting galactic cosmic rays from our solar system. [Walt Feimer/NASA GSFCs Conceptual Image Lab]Shielded by the SunConveniently, we do have some broader protection against galactic cosmic rays: a built-in shield provided by the Sun. The interplanetary magnetic field, which is embedded in the solar wind, deflects low-energy cosmic rays from us at the outer reaches of our solar system, decreasing the flux of these cosmic rays that reach us at Earth.This shield, however, isnt stationary; instead, it moves and changes as the strength and direction of the solar wind moves and changes. This results in a much lower cosmic-ray flux at Earth when solar activity is high i.e., at the peak of the 11-year solar cycle than when solar activity is low. This visible change in local cosmic-ray flux with solar activity is known as solar modulation of the cosmic ray flux at Earth.In a new study, a team of scientists led by Nicola Tomassetti (University of Perugia, Italy) has modeled this solar modulation to better understand the process by which the Suns changing activity influences the cosmic ray flux that reaches us at Earth.Modeling a LagTomassetti and collaborators model uses two solar-activity observables as inputs: the number of sunspots and the tilt angle of the heliospheric current sheet. By modeling basic transport processes in the heliosphere, the authors then track the impact that the changing solar properties have on incoming galactic cosmic rays. In particular, the team explores the time lag between when solar activity changes and when we see the responding change in the cosmic-ray flux.Cosmic-ray flux observations are best fit by the authors model when an 8-month lag is included (red bold line). A comparison model with no lag (black dashed line) is included. [Tomassetti et al. 2017]By comparing their model outputs to the large collection of time-dependent observations of cosmic-ray fluxes, Tomassetti and collaborators show that the best fit to data occurs with an 8-month lag between changing solar activity and local cosmic-ray flux modulation.This is an important outcome for studying the processes that affect the cosmic-ray flux that reaches Earth. But theres an additional intriguing consequence of this result: knowledge of the current solar activity could allow us to predict the modulation that will occur for cosmic rays near Earth an entire 8 months from now! If this model is correct, it brings us one step closer to being able to plan safer space missions for the future.CitationNicola Tomassetti et al 2017 ApJL 849 L32. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa9373

The Earth System Grid Federation: An Open Infrastructure for Access to Distributed Geospatial Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ananthakrishnan, Rachana; Bell, Gavin; Cinquini, Luca

2013-01-01

The Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) is a multi-agency, international collaboration that aims at developing the software infrastructure needed to facilitate and empower the study of climate change on a global scale. The ESGF s architecture employs a system of geographically distributed peer nodes, which are independently administered yet united by the adoption of common federation protocols and application programming interfaces (APIs). The cornerstones of its interoperability are the peer-to-peer messaging that is continuously exchanged among all nodes in the federation; a shared architecture and API for search and discovery; and a security infrastructure based on industry standards (OpenID, SSL,more » GSI and SAML). The ESGF software is developed collaboratively across institutional boundaries and made available to the community as open source. It has now been adopted by multiple Earth science projects and allows access to petabytes of geophysical data, including the entire model output used for the next international assessment report on climate change (IPCC-AR5) and a suite of satellite observations (obs4MIPs) and reanalysis data sets (ANA4MIPs).« less

The Earth System Grid Federation: An Open Infrastructure for Access to Distributed Geo-Spatial Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cinquini, Luca; Crichton, Daniel; Miller, Neill

2012-01-01

The Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) is a multi-agency, international collaboration that aims at developing the software infrastructure needed to facilitate and empower the study of climate change on a global scale. The ESGF s architecture employs a system of geographically distributed peer nodes, which are independently administered yet united by the adoption of common federation protocols and application programming interfaces (APIs). The cornerstones of its interoperability are the peer-to-peer messaging that is continuously exchanged among all nodes in the federation; a shared architecture and API for search and discovery; and a security infrastructure based on industry standards (OpenID, SSL,more » GSI and SAML). The ESGF software is developed collaboratively across institutional boundaries and made available to the community as open source. It has now been adopted by multiple Earth science projects and allows access to petabytes of geophysical data, including the entire model output used for the next international assessment report on climate change (IPCC-AR5) and a suite of satellite observations (obs4MIPs) and reanalysis data sets (ANA4MIPs).« less

Volcanic Eruptions and Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LeGrande, Allegra N.; Anchukaitis, Kevin J.

2015-01-01

Volcanic eruptions represent some of the most climatically important and societally disruptive short-term events in human history. Large eruptions inject ash, dust, sulfurous gases (e.g. SO2, H2S), halogens (e.g. Hcl and Hbr), and water vapor into the Earth's atmosphere. Sulfurous emissions principally interact with the climate by converting into sulfate aerosols that reduce incoming solar radiation, warming the stratosphere and altering ozone creation, reducing global mean surface temperature, and suppressing the hydrological cycle. In this issue, we focus on the history, processes, and consequences of these large eruptions that inject enough material into the stratosphere to significantly affect the climate system. In terms of the changes wrought on the energy balance of the Earth System, these transient events can temporarily have a radiative forcing magnitude larger than the range of solar, greenhouse gas, and land use variability over the last millennium. In simulations as well as modern and paleoclimate observations, volcanic eruptions cause large inter-annual to decadal-scale changes in climate. Active debates persist concerning their role in longer-term (multi-decadal to centennial) modification of the Earth System, however.

The Earth System Grid Federation : an Open Infrastructure for Access to Distributed Geospatial Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cinquini, Luca; Crichton, Daniel; Mattmann, Chris; Harney, John; Shipman, Galen; Wang, Feiyi; Ananthakrishnan, Rachana; Miller, Neill; Denvil, Sebastian; Morgan, Mark;

The origins of computer weather prediction and climate modeling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lynch, Peter

2008-03-20

Numerical simulation of an ever-increasing range of geophysical phenomena is adding enormously to our understanding of complex processes in the Earth system. The consequences for mankind of ongoing climate change will be far-reaching. Earth System Models are capable of replicating climate regimes of past millennia and are the best means we have of predicting the future of our climate. The basic ideas of numerical forecasting and climate modeling were developed about a century ago, long before the first electronic computer was constructed. There were several major practical obstacles to be overcome before numerical prediction could be put into practice. Amore » fuller understanding of atmospheric dynamics allowed the development of simplified systems of equations; regular radiosonde observations of the free atmosphere and, later, satellite data, provided the initial conditions; stable finite difference schemes were developed; and powerful electronic computers provided a practical means of carrying out the prodigious calculations required to predict the changes in the weather. Progress in weather forecasting and in climate modeling over the past 50 years has been dramatic. In this presentation, we will trace the history of computer forecasting through the ENIAC integrations to the present day. The useful range of deterministic prediction is increasing by about one day each decade, and our understanding of climate change is growing rapidly as Earth System Models of ever-increasing sophistication are developed.« less

The origins of computer weather prediction and climate modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lynch, Peter

2008-03-01

Numerical simulation of an ever-increasing range of geophysical phenomena is adding enormously to our understanding of complex processes in the Earth system. The consequences for mankind of ongoing climate change will be far-reaching. Earth System Models are capable of replicating climate regimes of past millennia and are the best means we have of predicting the future of our climate. The basic ideas of numerical forecasting and climate modeling were developed about a century ago, long before the first electronic computer was constructed. There were several major practical obstacles to be overcome before numerical prediction could be put into practice. A fuller understanding of atmospheric dynamics allowed the development of simplified systems of equations; regular radiosonde observations of the free atmosphere and, later, satellite data, provided the initial conditions; stable finite difference schemes were developed; and powerful electronic computers provided a practical means of carrying out the prodigious calculations required to predict the changes in the weather. Progress in weather forecasting and in climate modeling over the past 50 years has been dramatic. In this presentation, we will trace the history of computer forecasting through the ENIAC integrations to the present day. The useful range of deterministic prediction is increasing by about one day each decade, and our understanding of climate change is growing rapidly as Earth System Models of ever-increasing sophistication are developed.

Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth's surface electrons.

PubMed

Chevalier, Gaétan; Sinatra, Stephen T; Oschman, James L; Sokal, Karol; Sokal, Pawel

2012-01-01

Environmental medicine generally addresses environmental factors with a negative impact on human health. However, emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. Reconnection with the Earth's electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being. Earthing (or grounding) refers to the discovery of benefits-including better sleep and reduced pain-from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth's electrons from the ground into the body. This paper reviews the earthing research and the potential of earthing as a simple and easily accessed global modality of significant clinical importance.

Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons

PubMed Central

Chevalier, Gaétan; Sinatra, Stephen T.; Oschman, James L.; Sokal, Karol; Sokal, Pawel

2012-01-01

Environmental medicine generally addresses environmental factors with a negative impact on human health. However, emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. Reconnection with the Earth's electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being. Earthing (or grounding) refers to the discovery of benefits—including better sleep and reduced pain—from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth's electrons from the ground into the body. This paper reviews the earthing research and the potential of earthing as a simple and easily accessed global modality of significant clinical importance. PMID:22291721

Spectral Estimation Techniques for time series with Long Gaps: Applications to Paleomagnetism and Geomagnetic Depth Sounding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith-Boughner, Lindsay

Many Earth systems cannot be studied directly. One cannot measure the velocities of convecting fluid in the Earth's core but can measure the magnetic field generated by these motions on the surface. Examining how the magnetic field changes over long periods of time, using power spectral density estimation provides insight into the dynamics driving the system. The changes in the magnetic field can also be used to study Earth properties - variations in magnetic fields outside of Earth like the ring-current induce currents to flow in the Earth, generating magnetic fields. Estimating the transfer function between the external changes and the induced response characterizes the electromagnetic response of the Earth. From this response inferences can be made about the electrical conductivity of the Earth. However, these types of time series, and many others have long breaks in the record with no samples available and limit the analysis. Standard methods require interpolation or section averaging, with associated problems of introducing bias or reducing the frequency resolution. Extending the methods of Fodor and Stark (2000), who adapt a set of orthogonal multi-tapers to compensate for breaks in sampling- an algorithm and software package for applying these techniques is developed. Methods of empirically estimating the average transfer function of a set of tapers and confidence intervals are also tested. These methods are extended for cross-spectral, coherence and transfer function estimation in the presence of noise. With these methods, new analysis of a highly interrupted ocean sediment core from the Oligocene (Hartl et al., 1993) reveals a quasi-periodic signal in the calibrated paleointensity time series at 2.5 cpMy. The power in the magnetic field during this period appears to be dominated by reversal rate processes with less overall power than the early Oligocene. Previous analysis of the early Oligocene by Constable et al. (1998) detected a signal near 8 cpMy. These results suggest that a strong magnetic field inhibits reversals and has more variability in shorter term field changes. Using over 9 years of data from the CHAMP low-Earth orbiting magnetic satellite and the techniques developed here, more robust estimates of the electromagnetic response of the Earth can be made. The tapers adapted for gaps provide flexibility to study the effects of local time, storm conditions on Earth's 1-D electromagnetic response as well as providing robust estimates of the C-response at longer periods than previous satellite studies.

Adoption of Geospatial Systems towards evolving Sustainable Himalayan Mountain Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murthy, M. S. R.; Bajracharya, B.; Pradhan, S.; Shestra, B.; Bajracharya, R.; Shakya, K.; Wesselmann, S.; Ali, M.; Bajracharya, S.; Pradhan, S.

2014-11-01

Natural resources dependence of mountain communities, rapid social and developmental changes, disaster proneness and climate change are conceived as the critical factors regulating sustainable Himalayan mountain development. The Himalayan region posed by typical geographic settings, diverse physical and cultural diversity present a formidable challenge to collect and manage data, information and understands varied socio-ecological settings. Recent advances in earth observation, near real-time data, in-situ measurements and in combination of information and communication technology have transformed the way we collect, process, and generate information and how we use such information for societal benefits. Glacier dynamics, land cover changes, disaster risk reduction systems, food security and ecosystem conservation are a few thematic areas where geospatial information and knowledge have significantly contributed to informed decision making systems over the region. The emergence and adoption of near-real time systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), board-scale citizen science (crowd-sourcing), mobile services and mapping, and cloud computing have paved the way towards developing automated environmental monitoring systems, enhanced scientific understanding of geophysical and biophysical processes, coupled management of socio-ecological systems and community based adaptation models tailored to mountain specific environment. There are differentiated capacities among the ICIMOD regional member countries with regard to utilization of earth observation and geospatial technologies. The region can greatly benefit from a coordinated and collaborative approach to capture the opportunities offered by earth observation and geospatial technologies. The regional level data sharing, knowledge exchange, and Himalayan GEO supporting geospatial platforms, spatial data infrastructure, unique region specific satellite systems to address trans-boundary challenges would go a long way in evolving sustainable Himalayan livelihoods.

Introduction: Man and his total environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Environmental changes and the utilization of finite resources are analyzed. Beyond the satisfaction of basic physical needs, the advancement of civilization toward an ever-improving quality of like is likewise dependent upon mans' interaction with his entire environment. This larger system is controlled externally by electromagnetic and particle energy from the sun and internally by the dynamic interchange of energy between the solid earth, oceans, the atmosphere, and the magnetosphere. This exchange of energy that determines the structure of the earth's environemental system is evaluated.

Climate in Earth history

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berger, W. H.; Crowell, J. C.

1982-01-01

Complex atmosphere-ocean-land interactions govern the climate system and its variations. During the course of Earth history, nature has performed a large number of experiments involving climatic change; the geologic record contains much information regarding these experiments. This information should result in an increased understanding of the climate system, including climatic stability and factors that perturb climate. In addition, the paleoclimatic record has been demonstrated to be useful in interpreting the origin of important resources-petroleum, natural gas, coal, phosphate deposits, and many others.

The influence of climate variability and change on the science and practice of restoration ecology

Treesearch

Donald A. Falk; Connie Millar

2016-01-01

Variation in Earth’s climate system has always been a primary driver of ecosystem processes and biological evolution. In recent decades, however, the prospect of anthropogenically driven change to the climate system has become an increasingly dominant concern for scientists and conservation biologists. Understanding how ecosystems may...

Modeling change from large-scale high-dimensional spatio-temporal array data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Meng; Pebesma, Edzer

2014-05-01

The massive data that come from Earth observation satellite and other sensors provide significant information for modeling global change. At the same time, the high dimensionality of the data has brought challenges in data acquisition, management, effective querying and processing. In addition, the output of earth system modeling tends to be data intensive and needs methodologies for storing, validation, analyzing and visualization, e.g. as maps. An important proportion of earth system observations and simulated data can be represented as multi-dimensional array data, which has received increasingly attention in big data management and spatial-temporal analysis. Study cases will be developed in natural science such as climate change, hydrological modeling, sediment dynamics, from which the addressing of big data problems is necessary. Multi-dimensional array-based database management and analytics system such as Rasdaman, SciDB, and R will be applied to these cases. From these studies will hope to learn the strengths and weaknesses of these systems, how they might work together or how semantics of array operations differ, through addressing the problems associated with big data. Research questions include: • How can we reduce dimensions spatially and temporally, or thematically? • How can we extend existing GIS functions to work on multidimensional arrays? • How can we combine data sets of different dimensionality or different resolutions? • Can map algebra be extended to an intelligible array algebra? • What are effective semantics for array programming of dynamic data driven applications? • In which sense are space and time special, as dimensions, compared to other properties? • How can we make the analysis of multi-spectral, multi-temporal and multi-sensor earth observation data easy?

Studying the impact of different climate engineering techniques on ocean acidification with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, M. F.; Ilyina, T.; Sonntag, S.

2016-02-01

In order to counterbalance the consequences of climate change, different climate engineering (CE) technologies have been suggested. Nonetheless, knowledge about their mitigation potential and side-effects remains sparse. Ocean alkalinization (OA) is an ocean-based carbon dioxide removal method, that aims at enhancing the natural process of weathering by which atmospheric CO2 is absorbed and stored in the ocean via chemical sequestration. Large-scale afforestation can also boost the uptake of CO2 by terrestrial biological systems and it is commonly considered as CE method. Stratospheric sulfur injection is a solar radiation management technique that has been proposed in order to enhance the Earth's albedo, mimicking the release of sulfur particles into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions and the subsequent decrease in surface atmospheric temperatures. We explore the mitigation potential and side-effects of these CE technologies using the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model. Our scenarios are designed in order to test under what conditions it is possible to achieve a climate state that resembles the one of the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 under RCP8.5 greenhouse gas emissions. Direct and indirect effects of the OA method on the oceanic carbon cycle, differ strongly from those associated with afforestation and stratospheric sulfur injection. This is because they depend upon joint responses and synergies between different elements of the Earth system; thus, effects on the oceanic carbon cycle are not intuitively understood. Changes in the strength of the marine carbon sink, seawater pH and saturation state of carbonate minerals will be discussed. Additionally, collateral changes in marine biota and ocean biogeochemistry will be presented.

KSC-2009-1559

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-02-02

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 1, 2 and 3 motors of the Taurus XL rocket are being prepared for transfer to Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Taurus is the launch vehicle for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is scheduled to launch Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

KSC-2009-1560

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-02-02

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 1, 2 and 3 motors of the Taurus XL rocket are being prepared for transfer to Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Taurus is the launch vehicle for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is scheduled to launch Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

KSC-2009-1558

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-02-02

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 1, 2 and 3 motors of the Taurus XL rocket are being prepared for transfer to Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Taurus is the launch vehicle for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is scheduled to launch Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

Space Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hapgood, Mike

2017-01-01

Space weather-changes in the Earth's environment that can often be traced to physical processes in the Sun-can have a profound impact on critical Earth-based infrastructures such as power grids and civil aviation. Violent eruptions on the solar surface can eject huge clouds of magnetized plasma and particle radiation, which then propagate across interplanetary space and envelop the Earth. These space weather events can drive major changes in a variety of terrestrial environments, which can disrupt, or even damage, many of the technological systems that underpin modern societies. The aim of this book is to offer an insight into our current scientific understanding of space weather, and how we can use that knowledge to mitigate the risks it poses for Earth-based technologies. It also identifies some key challenges for future space-weather research, and considers how emerging technological developments may introduce new risks that will drive continuing investigation.

Impact of major volcanic eruptions on stratospheric water vapour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löffler, Michael; Brinkop, Sabine; Jöckel, Patrick

2016-05-01

Volcanic eruptions can have a significant impact on the Earth's weather and climate system. Besides the subsequent tropospheric changes, the stratosphere is also influenced by large eruptions. Here changes in stratospheric water vapour after the two major volcanic eruptions of El Chichón in Mexico in 1982 and Mount Pinatubo on the Philippines in 1991 are investigated with chemistry-climate model simulations. This study is based on two simulations with specified dynamics of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Hamburg - Modular Earth Submodel System (ECHAM/MESSy) Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model, performed within the Earth System Chemistry integrated Modelling (ESCiMo) project, of which only one includes the long-wave volcanic forcing through prescribed aerosol optical properties. The results show a significant increase in stratospheric water vapour induced by the eruptions, resulting from increased heating rates and the subsequent changes in stratospheric and tropopause temperatures in the tropics. The tropical vertical advection and the South Asian summer monsoon are identified as sources for the additional water vapour in the stratosphere. Additionally, volcanic influences on tropospheric water vapour and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are evident, if the long-wave forcing is strong enough. Our results are corroborated by additional sensitivity simulations of the Mount Pinatubo period with reduced nudging and reduced volcanic aerosol extinction.

Remote automated multi-generational growth and observation of an animal in low Earth orbit

PubMed Central

Oczypok, Elizabeth A.; Etheridge, Timothy; Freeman, Jacob; Stodieck, Louis; Johnsen, Robert; Baillie, David; Szewczyk, Nathaniel J.

2012-01-01

The ultimate survival of humanity is dependent upon colonization of other planetary bodies. Key challenges to such habitation are (patho)physiologic changes induced by known, and unknown, factors associated with long-duration and distance space exploration. However, we currently lack biological models for detecting and studying these changes. Here, we use a remote automated culture system to successfully grow an animal in low Earth orbit for six months. Our observations, over 12 generations, demonstrate that the multi-cellular soil worm Caenorhabditis elegans develops from egg to adulthood and produces progeny with identical timings in space as on the Earth. Additionally, these animals display normal rates of movement when fully fed, comparable declines in movement when starved, and appropriate growth arrest upon starvation and recovery upon re-feeding. These observations establish C. elegans as a biological model that can be used to detect changes in animal growth, development, reproduction and behaviour in response to environmental conditions during long-duration spaceflight. This experimental system is ready to be incorporated on future, unmanned interplanetary missions and could be used to study cost-effectively the effects of such missions on these biological processes and the efficacy of new life support systems and radiation shielding technologies. PMID:22130552

Viscous dissipation of energy at the stage of accumulation of the Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yurie Khachay, Professor; Olga Hachay, Professor; Antipin, Alexandr

2017-04-01

In the papers [1,2] it is published the differentiation model of the proto planet cloud during the accumulation of the Earth's group planets. In [2] it was shown that the energy released during the decay of short-lived radioactive elements in the small size more than 50 km, it is enough that the temperature inside of the protoplanet becomes larger than the temperature of iron melting. It provides a realization of the matter differentiation process and convection development inside the inner envelopes. With increasing of the Earth, the forming region of the outer core remains in a molten state, although the power and viscosity of the layer changed. In [3] it is shown that during the sequence of growth changes of accumulated protoplanets, the main contribution of heat is provided first by radioactive sources, and then heated from above by converting the kinetic energy during the growing impact inside the Earth, and finally heated from below. That provides three types of driving mechanisms of convection: internal heat sources; heated top; heated from bottom and chemical-thermal convection. At all stages of proto Earth's development the convective heat-mass transfer becomes a most significant factor in the dynamics of the planet. However, the heat release due to friction in the viscous liquid of the outer core up to now was not still considered, or it was considered only for the formed planetary envelopes with a constant radius. In this paper we present the first results of thermal evolution numerical modeling of 3D spherical segment for a protoplanet with increasing radius and accounting random falling of bodies and particles. To describe the planetary accumulation Safronov equation is used [4]. For the quantitative account of the released heat by viscous friction a system of hydro dynamic equations for a viscous liquid is used. The obtained results show that the heat input due to viscous friction heat release at the early stage of planetary accumulation was very significant. That influence is defined by a set of factors. It was changed the width of the formed outer core. It was changed the distribution of the temperature and hydrostatic pressure inside the core and reciprocally the viscosity of the matter. It had been changed the orbit parameters of the system Earth-Moon. The received results depend from the parameters, the values of which are known with large degree of uncertainty. They have to be specified during next researchers. This work was supported by grant RFBRI №16-05-00540 References. 1. V.Anfilogov,Y. Khachay ,2005, Possible variant of matter differentiation on the initial stage of Earth's forming //DAN, 2005, V. 403, № 6, p. 803-806. 2.V.Anfilogov,Y.Khachay ,2015, Some Aspects of the Solar System Formation. Springer Briefs of the Earth Sciences. -75p 3.Khachay Yu.V., Hachay O.A. Heat production by the viscous dissipation of energy at the stage of accumulation of the Earth. Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 18, EGU2016-2825, 2016 4. Khachay Yu. Realization of thermal Convection into the initial Earth's Core on the Stage of planetary Accumulation // Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 17, EGU2015-2211, 2015.

Spatially-explicit and spectral soil carbon modeling in Florida

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Profound shifts have occurred over the last three centuries in which human actions have become the main driver to global environmental change. In this new epoch, the Anthropocene, human-driven changes such as population growth, climate and land use change, are pushing the Earth system well outside i...

Development of online instructional resources for Earth system science education: An example of current practice from China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Shaochun; Xu, Shijin; Lu, Xiancai

2009-06-01

Educators around the world are striving to make science more accessible and relevant to students. Online instructional resources have become an integral component of tertiary science education and will continue to grow in influence and importance over the coming decades. A case study in the iterative improvement of the online instructional resources provided for first-year undergraduates taking " Introductory Earth System Science" at Nanjing University in China is presented in this paper. Online instructional resources are used to conduct a student-centered learning model in the domain of Earth system science, resulting in a sustainable online instructional framework for students and instructors. The purpose of our practice is to make Earth system science education more accessible and exciting to students, changing instruction from a largely textbook-based teacher-centered approach to a more interactive and student-centered approach, and promoting the integration of knowledge and development of deep understanding by students. Evaluation on learning performance and learning satisfaction is conducted to identify helpful components and perception based on students' learning activities. The feedbacks indicate that the use of online instructional resources has positive impacts on mitigating Earth system science education challenges, and has the potential to promote deep learning.

The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene.

PubMed

Waters, Colin N; Zalasiewicz, Jan; Summerhayes, Colin; Barnosky, Anthony D; Poirier, Clément; Gałuszka, Agnieszka; Cearreta, Alejandro; Edgeworth, Matt; Ellis, Erle C; Ellis, Michael; Jeandel, Catherine; Leinfelder, Reinhold; McNeill, J R; Richter, Daniel deB; Steffen, Will; Syvitski, James; Vidas, Davor; Wagreich, Michael; Williams, Mark; Zhisheng, An; Grinevald, Jacques; Odada, Eric; Oreskes, Naomi; Wolfe, Alexander P

2016-01-08

Human activity is leaving a pervasive and persistent signature on Earth. Vigorous debate continues about whether this warrants recognition as a new geologic time unit known as the Anthropocene. We review anthropogenic markers of functional changes in the Earth system through the stratigraphic record. The appearance of manufactured materials in sediments, including aluminum, plastics, and concrete, coincides with global spikes in fallout radionuclides and particulates from fossil fuel combustion. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles have been substantially modified over the past century. Rates of sea-level rise and the extent of human perturbation of the climate system exceed Late Holocene changes. Biotic changes include species invasions worldwide and accelerating rates of extinction. These combined signals render the Anthropocene stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene and earlier epochs. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

NASA Tools for Climate Impacts on Water Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Doorn, Brad

2010-01-01

Climate and environmental change are expected to fundamentally alter the nation's hydrological cycle and water availability. Satellites provide global or near-global coverage using instruments, allowing for consistent, well-calibrated, and equivalent-quality data of the Earth system. A major goal for NASA climate and environmental change research is to create multi-instrument data sets to span the multi-decadal time scales of climate change and to combine these data with those from modeling and surface-based observing systems to improve process understanding and predictions. NASA and Earth science data and analyses will ultimately enable more accurate climate prediction, and characterization of uncertainties. NASA's Applied Sciences Program works with other groups, including other federal agencies, to transition demonstrated observational capabilities to operational capabilities. A summary of some of NASA tools for improved water resources management will be presented.

Work and Inertial Frames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaufman, Richard

2017-12-01

A fairly recent paper resolves a large discrepancy in the internal energy utilized to fire a cannon as calculated by two inertial observers. Earth and its small reaction velocity must be considered in the system so that the change in kinetic energy is calculated correctly. This paper uses a car in a similar scenario, but considers the work done by forces acting over distances. An analysis of the system must include all energy interactions, including the work done on the car and especially the (negative) work done on Earth in a moving reference frame. This shows the importance of considering the force on Earth and the distance Earth travels. For calculation of work in inertial reference frames, the center of mass perspective is shown to be useful. We also consider the energy requirements to efficiently accelerate a mass among interacting masses.

Imaging_Earth_With_MUSES

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-11

Commercial businesses and scientific researchers have a new capability to capture digital imagery of Earth, thanks to MUSES: the Multiple User System for Earth Sensing facility. This platform on the outside of the International Space Station is capable of holding four different payloads, ranging from high-resolution digital cameras to hyperspectral imagers, which will support Earth science observations in agricultural awareness, air quality, disaster response, fire detection, and many other research topics. MUSES program manager Mike Soutullo explains the system and its unique features including the ability to change and upgrade payloads using the space station’s Canadarm2 and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. For more information about MUSES, please visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/MUSES For more on ISS science, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html or follow us on Twitter @ISS_research

Predicting Earth orientation changes from global forecasts of atmosphere-hydrosphere dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dobslaw, Henryk; Dill, Robert

2018-02-01

Effective Angular Momentum (EAM) functions obtained from global numerical simulations of atmosphere, ocean, and land surface dynamics are routinely processed by the Earth System Modelling group at Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum. EAM functions are available since January 1976 with up to 3 h temporal resolution. Additionally, 6 days-long EAM forecasts are routinely published every day. Based on hindcast experiments with 305 individual predictions distributed over 15 months, we demonstrate that EAM forecasts improve the prediction accuracy of the Earth Orientation Parameters at all forecast horizons between 1 and 6 days. At day 6, prediction accuracy improves down to 1.76 mas for the terrestrial pole offset, and 2.6 mas for Δ UT1, which correspond to an accuracy increase of about 41% over predictions published in Bulletin A by the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service.

Semiconductor sensor for optically measuring polarization rotation of optical wavefronts using rare earth iron garnets

DOEpatents

Duncan, Paul G.

2002-01-01

Described are the design of a rare earth iron garnet sensor element, optical methods of interrogating the sensor element, methods of coupling the optical sensor element to a waveguide, and an optical and electrical processing system for monitoring the polarization rotation of a linearly polarized wavefront undergoing external modulation due to magnetic field or electrical current fluctuation. The sensor element uses the Faraday effect, an intrinsic property of certain rare-earth iron garnet materials, to rotate the polarization state of light in the presence of a magnetic field. The sensor element may be coated with a thin-film mirror to effectively double the optical path length, providing twice the sensitivity for a given field strength or temperature change. A semiconductor sensor system using a rare earth iron garnet sensor element is described.

Ocean Drilling: Forty Years of International Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Deborah K.; Exon, Neville; Barriga, Fernando J. A. S.; Tatsumi, Yoshiyuki

2010-10-01

International cooperation is an essential component of modern scientific research and societal advancement [see Ismail-Zadeh and Beer, 2009], and scientific ocean drilling represents one of Earth science's longest-running and most successful international collaborations. The strength of this collaboration and its continued success result from the realization that scientific ocean drilling provides a unique and powerful tool to study the critical processes of both short-term change and the long-term evolution of Earth systems. A record of Earth's changing tectonics, climate, ocean circulation, and biota is preserved in marine sedimentary deposits and the underlying basement rocks. And because the ocean floor is the natural site for accumulation and preservation of geological materials, it may preserve a continuous record of these processes.

The dependence of magnetosphere-ionosphere system on the Earth's magnetic dipole moment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngwira, C. M.; Pulkkinen, A. A.; Sibeck, D. G.; Rastaetter, L.

2017-12-01

Space weather is increasingly recognized as an international problem affecting several different man-made technologies. The ability to understand, monitor and forecast Earth-directed space weather is of paramount importance for our highly technology-dependent society and for the current rapid developments in awareness and exploration within the heliosphere. It is well known that the strength of the Earth's magnetic field changes over long time scales. We use physics-based simulations with the University of Michigan Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) to examine how the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and ground geomagnetic field perturbations respond as the geomagnetic dipole moment changes. We discuss the implication of these results for our community and the end-users of space weather information.

ISSM-SESAW v1.0: mesh-based computation of gravitationally consistent sea-level and geodetic signatures caused by cryosphere and climate driven mass change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adhikari, Surendra; Ivins, Erik R.; Larour, Eric

2016-03-01

A classical Green's function approach for computing gravitationally consistent sea-level variations associated with mass redistribution on the earth's surface employed in contemporary sea-level models naturally suits the spectral methods for numerical evaluation. The capability of these methods to resolve high wave number features such as small glaciers is limited by the need for large numbers of pixels and high-degree (associated Legendre) series truncation. Incorporating a spectral model into (components of) earth system models that generally operate on a mesh system also requires repetitive forward and inverse transforms. In order to overcome these limitations, we present a method that functions efficiently on an unstructured mesh, thus capturing the physics operating at kilometer scale yet capable of simulating geophysical observables that are inherently of global scale with minimal computational cost. The goal of the current version of this model is to provide high-resolution solid-earth, gravitational, sea-level and rotational responses for earth system models operating in the domain of the earth's outer fluid envelope on timescales less than about 1 century when viscous effects can largely be ignored over most of the globe. The model has numerous important geophysical applications. For example, we compute time-varying computations of global geodetic and sea-level signatures associated with recent ice-sheet changes that are derived from space gravimetry observations. We also demonstrate the capability of our model to simultaneously resolve kilometer-scale sources of the earth's time-varying surface mass transport, derived from high-resolution modeling of polar ice sheets, and predict the corresponding local and global geodetic signatures.

Global deformation of the Earth, surface mass anomalies, and the geodetic infrastructure required to study these processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusche, J.; Rietbroek, R.; Gunter, B.; Mark-Willem, J.

2008-12-01

Global deformation of the Earth can be linked to loading caused by mass changes in the atmosphere, the ocean and the terrestrial hydrosphere. World-wide geodetic observation systems like GPS, e.g., the global IGS network, can be used to study the global deformation of the Earth directly and, when other effects are properly modeled, provide information regarding the surface loading mass (e.g., to derive geo-center motion estimates). Vice versa, other observing systems that monitor mass change, either through gravitational changes (GRACE) or through a combination of in-situ and modeled quantities (e.g., the atmosphere, ocean or hydrosphere), can provide indirect information on global deformation. In the framework of the German 'Mass transport and mass distribution' program, we estimate surface mass anomalies at spherical harmonic resolution up to degree and order 30 by linking three complementary data sets in a least squares approach. Our estimates include geo-center motion and the thickness of a spatially uniform layer on top of the ocean surface (that is otherwise estimated from surface fluxes, evaporation and precipitation, and river run-off) as a time-series. As with all current Earth observing systems, each dataset has its own limitations and do not realize homogeneous coverage over the globe. To assess the impact that these limitations might have on current and future deformation and loading mass solutions, a sensitivity study was conducted. Simulated real-case and idealized solutions were explored in which the spatial distribution and quality of GPS, GRACE and OBP data sets were varied. The results show that significant improvements, e.g., over the current GRACE monthly gravity fields, in particular at the low degrees, can be achieved when these solutions are combined with present day GPS and OBP products. Our idealized scenarios also provide quantitative implications on how much surface mass change estimates may improve in the future when improved observing systems become available.

Earth: Earth Science and Health

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maynard, Nancy G.

2001-01-01

A major new NASA initiative on environmental change and health has been established to promote the application of Earth science remote sensing data, information, observations, and technologies to issues of human health. NASA's Earth Sciences suite of Earth observing instruments are now providing improved observations science, data, and advanced technologies about the Earth's land, atmosphere, and oceans. These new space-based resources are being combined with other agency and university resources, data integration and fusion technologies, geographic information systems (GIS), and the spectrum of tools available from the public health community, making it possible to better understand how the environment and climate are linked to specific diseases, to improve outbreak prediction, and to minimize disease risk. This presentation is an overview of NASA's tools, capabilities, and research advances in this initiative.

Launching an EarthCube Interoperability Workbench for Constructing Workflows and Employing Service Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fulker, D. W.; Pearlman, F.; Pearlman, J.; Arctur, D. K.; Signell, R. P.

2016-12-01

A major challenge for geoscientists—and a key motivation for the National Science Foundation's EarchCube initiative—is to integrate data across disciplines, as is necessary for complex Earth-system studies such as climate change. The attendant technical and social complexities have led EarthCube participants to devise a system-of-systems architectural concept. Its centerpiece is a (virtual) interoperability workbench, around which a learning community can coalesce, supported in their evolving quests to join data from diverse sources, to synthesize new forms of data depicting Earth phenomena, and to overcome immense obstacles that arise, for example, from mismatched nomenclatures, projections, mesh geometries and spatial-temporal scales. The full architectural concept will require significant time and resources to implement, but this presentation describes a (minimal) starter kit. With a keep-it-simple mantra this workbench starter kit can fulfill the following four objectives: 1) demonstrate the feasibility of an interoperability workbench by mid-2017; 2) showcase scientifically useful examples of cross-domain interoperability, drawn, e.g., from funded EarthCube projects; 3) highlight selected aspects of EarthCube's architectural concept, such as a system of systems (SoS) linked via service interfaces; 4) demonstrate how workflows can be designed and used in a manner that enables sharing, promotes collaboration and fosters learning. The outcome, despite its simplicity, will embody service interfaces sufficient to construct—from extant components—data-integration and data-synthesis workflows involving multiple geoscience domains. Tentatively, the starter kit will build on the Jupyter Notebook web application, augmented with libraries for interfacing current services (at data centers involved in EarthCube's Council of Data Facilities, e.g.) and services developed specifically for EarthCube and spanning most geoscience domains.

A new research project on the interaction of the solid Earth and the Antarctic Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuda, Y.; Nishijima, J.; Kazama, T.; Nakamura, K.; Doi, K.; Suganuma, Y.; Okuno, J.; Araya, A.; Kaneda, H.; Aoyama, Y.

2017-12-01

A new research project of "Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas" funded by JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) has recently been launched. The title of the project is "Giant reservoirs of heat/water/material: Global environmental changes driven by Southern Ocean and Antarctic Ice Sheet", and as a five years project, is aiming to establish a new research area for Antarctic environmental system science. The project consists of 7 research topics, including Antarctic ice sheet and Southern ocean sciences, new observation methodology, modeling and other interdisciplinary topics, and we are involved in the topic A02-2, "Interaction of the solid Earth and the Antarctic Ice Sheet". The Antarctic ice sheet, which relates to the global climate changes through the sea level rise and ocean circulation, is an essential element of the Earth system for predicting the future environment changes. Thus many studies of the ice sheet changes have been conducted by means of geomorphological, geological, geodetic surveys, as well as satellite gravimetry and satellite altimetry. For these studies, one of the largest uncertainties is the effects of GIA. Therefore, GIA as a key to investigate the interaction between the solid Earth and the ice sheet changes, we plan to conduct geomorphological, geological and geodetic surveys in the inland mountain areas and the coastal areas including the surrounding areas of a Japanese station Syowa in East Antarctica, where the in-situ data for constraining GIA models are very few. Combining these new observations with other in-site data, various satellite data and numerical modeling, we aim to estimating a precise GIA model, constructing a reliable ice melting history after the last glacial maximum and obtaining the viscoelastic structure of the Earth's interior. In the presentation, we also show the five years research plans as well. This study was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 17H06321.

Modeling in the Classroom: An Evolving Learning Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Few, A. A.; Marlino, M. R.; Low, R.

2006-12-01

Among the early programs (early 1990s) focused on teaching Earth System Science were the Global Change Instruction Program (GCIP) funded by NSF through UCAR and the Earth System Science Education Program (ESSE) funded by NASA through USRA. These two programs introduced modeling as a learning tool from the beginning, and they provided workshops, demonstrations and lectures for their participating universities. These programs were aimed at university-level education. Recently, classroom modeling is experiencing a revival of interest. Drs John Snow and Arthur Few conducted two workshops on modeling at the ESSE21 meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, in August 2005. The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) at http://www.dlese.org provides web access to STELLA models and tutorials, and UCAR's Education and Outreach (EO) program holds workshops that include training in modeling. An important innovation to the STELLA modeling software by isee systems, http://www.iseesystems.com, called "isee Player" is available as a free download. The Player allows users to view and run STELLA models, change model parameters, share models with colleagues and students, and make working models available on the web. This is important because the expert can create models, and the user can learn how the modeled system works. Another aspect of this innovation is that the educational benefits of modeling concepts can be extended throughout most of the curriculum. The procedure for building a working computer model of an Earth Science System follows this general format: (1) carefully define the question(s) for which you seek the answer(s); (2) identify the interacting system components and inputs contributing to the system's behavior; (3) collect the information and data that will be required to complete the conceptual model; (4) construct a system diagram (graphic) of the system that displays all of system's central questions, components, relationships and required inputs. At this stage in the process the conceptual model of the system is compete and a clear understanding of how the system works is achieved. When appropriate software is available the advanced classes can proceed to (5) creating a computer model of the system and testing the conceptual model. For classes lacking these advanced capabilities they may view and run models using the free isee Player and shared working models. In any event there is understanding to be gained in every step of the procedure outlined above. You can view some examples at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~few/. We plan to populate this site with samples of Earth science systems for use in Earth system science education.

Venus' Chasmata and Earth's Spreading Centers: A Topographic Comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoddard, P. R.; Jurdy, D. M.

2008-12-01

Like the Earth, Venus has a global rift system, which has been cited as evidence of tectonic activity, despite the apparent lack of Earth-style plate tectonics. Both systems are marked by large ridges, usually with central grabens. On Earth, the topography of the rifts can be modeled well by a cooling half-space and the spreading of two divergent plates. The origin of the topographic signature on Venus, however, remains enigmatic. Venus' rift zones (termed "chasmata") can be fit by four great circle arcs extending 1000s of kilometers. The Venus chasmata system measures 54,464 km, which when corrected for the smaller size of the planet, nearly matches the 59,200-km total length of the spreading ridges determined for Earth. As on Earth, the chasmata with the greatest relief (7 km in just a 30-km run for Venus) represent the most recent tectonic activity. We use topographic profiles to look for well-understood terrestrial analogs to Venusian features. Focusing on mid-ocean ridge systems on Earth, we examine the variation along individual ridges, or rises, due to the gradual change in spreading rate (and thus cooling times). We then analyze the difference between fast and slow ridges, and propose that this technique may also be used to pick plate boundaries along spreading centers (SAM/AFR vs. NAM/AFR, e.g.). These profiles are then compared to those for Venus' rifts. Topographic profiles are based on the Magellan (Venus) and ETOPO5 (Earth) data sets. Long wavelength features appear similar to spreading systems on Earth, suggesting a deep, thermal cause. Short wavelength features, such as rift troughs and constructional edifices, are quite different, however, as expected from the vastly different surface conditions. Comparison of topographic profiles from Venus and Earth may lend insight into tectonic features and activity on our sister planet.

Adaptive Changes in the Vestibular System of Land Snail to a 30-Day Spaceflight and Readaptation on Return to Earth.

PubMed

Aseyev, Nikolay; Vinarskaya, Alia Kh; Roshchin, Matvey; Korshunova, Tatiana A; Malyshev, Aleksey Yu; Zuzina, Alena B; Ierusalimsky, Victor N; Lemak, Maria S; Zakharov, Igor S; Novikov, Ivan A; Kolosov, Peter; Chesnokova, Ekaterina; Volkova, Svetlana; Kasianov, Artem; Uroshlev, Leonid; Popova, Yekaterina; Boyle, Richard D; Balaban, Pavel M

2017-01-01

The vestibular system receives a permanent influence from gravity and reflexively controls equilibrium. If we assume gravity has remained constant during the species' evolution, will its sensory system adapt to abrupt loss of that force? We address this question in the land snail Helix lucorum exposed to 30 days of near weightlessness aboard the Bion-M1 satellite, and studied geotactic behavior of postflight snails, differential gene expressions in statocyst transcriptome, and electrophysiological responses of mechanoreceptors to applied tilts. Each approach revealed plastic changes in the snail's vestibular system assumed in response to spaceflight. Absence of light during the mission also affected statocyst physiology, as revealed by comparison to dark-conditioned control groups. Readaptation to normal tilt responses occurred at ~20 h following return to Earth. Despite the permanence of gravity, the snail responded in a compensatory manner to its loss and readapted once gravity was restored.

Monitoring global climate change using SLR data from LARES and other geodetic satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paolozzi, Antonio; Paris, Claudio; Pavlis, Erricos C.; Sindoni, Giampiero; Ciufolini, Ignazio

2016-04-01

The Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), i.e. the spin axis of the Earth, is influenced by the mass redistribution inside and on the surface of the Earth. On the Earth surface, global ice melting, sea level change and atmospheric circulation are the prime contributors. Recent studies have unraveled the majority of the mysteries behind the Chandler wobble, the annual motion and the secular motion of the pole. The differences from the motion of a pole for a rigid Earth is indeed due to the mass redistribution and transfer of angular momentum among the atmosphere, the oceans and solid Earth. The technique of laser ranging and the use of laser ranged satellites such as LARES along with other techniques such Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) allow to measure the EOP with accuracies at the level of ~200 μas which correspond to few millimeters at the Earth's surface, while the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data can reach an accuracy even below 100 μas. At these unprecedented high levels of accuracy, even tiny anomalous behavior in EOP can be observed and thus correlated to global environmental changes such as ice melting on Greenland and the polar caps, and extreme events that involve strong ocean-atmosphere coupling interactions such as the El Niño. The contribution of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) data such as from the LARES mission and similar satellites to this area is outlined in this paper.

Providing Context for Complexity: Using Infographics and Conceptual Models to Teach Global Change Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bean, J. R.; White, L. D.

2015-12-01

Understanding modern and historical global changes requires interdisciplinary knowledge of the physical and life sciences. The Understanding Global Change website from the UC Museum of Paleontology will use a focal infographic that unifies diverse content often taught in separate K-12 science units. This visualization tool provides scientists with a structure for presenting research within the broad context of global change, and supports educators with a framework for teaching and assessing student understanding of complex global change processes. This new approach to teaching the science of global change is currently being piloted and refined based on feedback from educators and scientists in anticipation of a 2016 website launch. Global change concepts are categorized within the infographic as causes of global change (e.g., burning of fossil fuels, volcanism), ongoing Earth system processes (e.g., ocean circulation, the greenhouse effect), and the changes scientists measure in Earth's physical and biological systems (e.g., temperature, extinctions/radiations). The infographic will appear on all website content pages and provides a template for the creation of flowcharts, which are conceptual models that allow teachers and students to visualize the interdependencies and feedbacks among processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. The development of this resource is timely given that the newly adopted Next Generation Science Standards emphasize cross-cutting concepts, including model building, and Earth system science. Flowchart activities will be available on the website to scaffold inquiry-based lessons, determine student preconceptions, and assess student content knowledge. The infographic has already served as a learning and evaluation tool during professional development workshops at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. At these workshops, scientists and educators used the infographic to highlight how their research and activities reinforce conceptual links among global change topics. Pre- and post-workshop assessment results and responses to questionnaires have guided the refinement of classroom activities and assessment tools utilizing flowcharts as models for global change processes.

The Echoes of Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

NASA s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) acquires, archives, and manages data from all of NASA s Earth science satellites, for the benefit of the Space Agency and for the benefit of others, including local governments, first responders, the commercial remote sensing industry, teachers, museums, and the general public. EOSDIS is currently handling an extraordinary amount of NASA scientific data. To give an idea of the volume of information it receives, NASA s Terra Earth-observing satellite, just one of many NASA satellites sending down data, sends it hundreds of gigabytes a day, almost as much data as the Hubble Space Telescope acquires in an entire year, or about equal to the amount of information that could be found in hundreds of pickup trucks filled with books. To make EOSDIS data completely accessible to the Earth science community, NASA teamed up with private industry in 2000 to develop an Earth science "marketplace" registry that lets public users quickly drill down to the exact information they need. It also enables them to publish their research and resources alongside of NASA s research and resources. This registry is known as the Earth Observing System ClearingHOuse, or ECHO. The charter for this project focused on having an infrastructure completely independent from EOSDIS that would allow for more contributors and open up additional data access options. Accordingly, it is only fitting that the term ECHO is more than just an acronym; it represents the functionality of the system in that it can echo out and create interoperability among other systems, all while maturing with time as industry technologies and standards change and improve.

Chaotic Dynamics in a Low-Energy Transfer Strategy to the Equilateral Equilibrium Points in the Earth-Moon System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salazar, F. J. T.; Macau, E. E. N.; Winter, O. C.

In the frame of the equilateral equilibrium points exploration, numerous future space missions will require maximization of payload mass, simultaneously achieving reasonable transfer times. To fulfill this request, low-energy non-Keplerian orbits could be used to reach L4 and L5 in the Earth-Moon system instead of high energetic transfers. Previous studies have shown that chaos in physical systems like the restricted three-body Earth-Moon-particle problem can be used to direct a chaotic trajectory to a target that has been previously considered. In this work, we propose to transfer a spacecraft from a circular Earth Orbit in the chaotic region to the equilateral equilibrium points L4 and L5 in the Earth-Moon system, exploiting the chaotic region that connects the Earth with the Moon and changing the trajectory of the spacecraft (relative to the Earth) by using a gravity assist maneuver with the Moon. Choosing a sequence of small perturbations, the time of flight is reduced and the spacecraft is guided to a proper trajectory so that it uses the Moon's gravitational force to finally arrive at a desired target. In this study, the desired target will be an orbit about the Lagrangian equilibrium points L4 or L5. This strategy is not only more efficient with respect to thrust requirement, but also its time transfer is comparable to other known transfer techniques based on time optimization.

Quantitative Assessment of the Integrated Response in Global Heat and Moisture Budgets to Changing Solar Irradiance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Warren B.; Cayan, Daniel R.; Dettinger, Michael; Sharber, James (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Earlier, we found time sequences of basin- and global-average upper ocean temperature (that is, diabatic heat storage above the main pycnocline) for 40 years from 1955-1994 and of sea surface temperature for 95 years from 1900-1994 associated with changes in the Sun's radiative forcing on decadal and interdecadal timescales, lagging by 10 deg.- 30 deg. of phase and confined to the upper 60-120 m. Yet, the observed changes in upper ocean temperature (approx. 0.1 K) were approximately twice those expected from the Stefan-Boltzmann black-body radiation law for the Earth's surface, with phase lags (0 deg. to 30 deg. of phase) much shorter than the 90 deg. phase shift expected as well. Moreover, White et al. (1997, 1998) found the Earth's global decadal mode in covarying SST and SLP anomalies phase locked to the decadal signal in the Sun's irradiance. Yet, Allan (2000) found this decadal signal also characterized by patterns similar to those observed on biennial and interannual time scales; that is, the Troposphere Biennial Oscillation (TBO) and the El Nino and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This suggested that small changes in the Sun's total irradiance could excite this global decadal mode in the Earth's ocean-atmosphere-terrestrial system similar to those excited internally on biennial and interannual period scales. This is a significant finding, proving that energy budget models (that is, models based on globally-averaged radiation balances) yield unrealistic responses. Thus, the true response must include positive and negative feedbacks in the Earth's ocean-atmosphere-terrestrial system as its internal mode (that is, the natural mode of the system) respond in damped resonance to quasi-periodic decadal changes in the Sun's irradiance. Moreover, these responses are not much different from those occurring internally on biennial and interannual period scales.

Sounding the Alarm: Health in the Anthropocene.

PubMed

Butler, Colin D

2016-06-30

There is growing scientific and public recognition that human actions, directly and indirectly, have profoundly changed the Earth system, in a still accelerating process, increasingly called the "Anthropocene". Planetary transformation, including of the atmosphere, climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, has enormous implications for human health, many of which are deeply disturbing, especially in low-income settings. A few health consequences of the Anthropocene have been partially recognized, including within environmental epidemiology, but their long-term consequences remain poorly understood and greatly under-rated. For example Syria could be a "sentinel" population, giving a glimpse to a much wider dystopian future. Health-Earth is a research network, co-founded in 2014, which seeks, with other groups, to catalyse a powerful curative response by the wider health community. This paper builds on a symposium presented by Health-Earth members at the 2015 conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. It reviews and synthesizes parts of the large literature relevant to the interaction between the changing Earth system and human health. It concludes that this topic should be prominent within future environmental epidemiology and public health. Created by our species, these challenges may be soluble, but solutions require far more understanding and resources than are currently being made available.

Anthropogenic changes in the surface all-sky UV-B radiation through 1850-2005 simulated by an Earth system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, S.; Takemura, T.; Sudo, K.; Yokohata, T.; Kawase, H.

2012-06-01

The historical anthropogenic change in the surface all-sky UV-B (solar ultraviolet: 280-315 nm) radiation through 1850-2005 is evaluated using an Earth system model. Responses of UV-B dose to anthropogenic changes in ozone and aerosols are separately evaluated using a series of historical simulations including/excluding these changes. Increases in these air pollutants cause reductions in UV-B transmittance, which occur gradually/rapidly before/after 1950 in and downwind of industrial and deforestation regions. Furthermore, changes in ozone transport in the lower stratosphere, which is induced by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, increase ozone concentration in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. These transient changes work to decrease the amount of UV-B reaching the Earth's surface, counteracting the well-known effect increasing UV-B due to stratospheric ozone depletion, which developed rapidly after ca. 1980. As a consequence, the surface UV-B radiation change between 1850 and 2000 is negative in the tropics and NH extratropics and positive in the SH extratropics. Comparing the contributions of ozone and aerosol changes to the UV-B change, the transient change in ozone absorption of UV-B mainly determines the total change in the surface UV-B radiation at most locations. On the other hand, the aerosol direct and indirect effects on UV-B play an equally important role to that of ozone in the NH mid-latitudes and tropics. A typical example is East Asia (25° N-60° N and 120° E-150° E), where the effect of aerosols (ca. 70%) dominates the total UV-B change.

Anthropogenic changes in the surface all-sky UV-B radiation through 1850-2005 simulated by an Earth system model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, S.; Takemura, T.; Sudo, K.; Yokohata, T.; Kawase, H.

2012-02-01

The historical anthropogenic change in the surface all-sky UV-B (solar ultraviolet: 280-315 nm) radiation through 1850-2005 is evaluated using an Earth system model. Responses of UV-B dose to anthropogenic changes in ozone and aerosols are separately evaluated using a series of historical simulations including/excluding these changes. Increases in these air pollutants cause reductions in UV-B transmittance, which occur gradually/rapidly before/after 1950 in and downwind of industrial and deforestation regions. Furthermore, changes in ozone transport in the lower stratosphere, which is induced by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, increase ozone concentration in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. These transient changes work to decrease the amount of UV-B reaching the Earth's surface, counteracting the well-known effect increasing UV-B due to stratospheric ozone depletion, which developed rapidly after ca. 1980. As a consequence, the surface all-sky UV-B radiation change between 1850 and 2000 is negative in the tropics and NH extratropics and positive in the SH extratropics. Comparing the contributions of ozone and aerosol changes to the UV-B change, the transient change in ozone absorption of UV-B mainly determines the total change in the surface all-sky UV-B radiation at most locations. On the other hand, the aerosol direct and indirect effects on UV-B play an equally important role to that of ozone in the NH mid-latitudes and tropics. A typical example is East Asia (25° N-60° N and 120° E-150° E), where the effect of aerosols (ca. 70%) dominates the total UV-B change.

Evidence and implications of recent climate change in northern Alaska and other arctic regions.

Treesearch

Larry D. Hinzman; Neil D. Bettez; W. Robert Bolton; F. Stuart Chapin; Mark B. Dyurgerov; Chris L. Fastie; Brad Griffith; Robert D. Hollister; Allen Hope; Henry P. Huntington; Anne M. Jensen; Gensuou J. Jia; Torre Jorgenson; Douglas L. Kane; David R. Klein; Gary Kofinas; Amanda H. Lynch; Andrea H. Lloyd; A. David McGuire; Frederick E. Nelson; Walter C. Oechel; Thomas E. Osterkamp; Charles H. Racine; Vladimir E. Romanovsky; Robert S. Stone; Douglas A. Stow; Matthew Sturm; Craig E. Tweedie; George L. Vourlitis; Marilyn D. Walker; Donald A. Walker; Patrick J. Webber; Jeffrey M. Welker; Kevin S. Winker; Kenji Yoshikawa

2005-01-01

The Arctic climate is changing. Permafrost is warming, hydrological processes are changing and biological and social systems are also evolving in response to these changing conditions. Knowing how the structure and function of arctic terrestrial ecosystems are responding to recent and persistent climate change is paramount to understanding the future state of the Earth...

Integrating Scientific Content with Context to Connect Educators with the Complexities and Consequences of Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Low, R.; Gosselin, D. C.; Oglesby, R. J.; Larson-Miller, C.; Thomas, J.; Mawalagedara, R.

2011-12-01

Over the past three years the Nebraska Earth Systems Education Network has designed professional development opportunities for K-12 and extension educators that integrates scientific content into the context of helping educators connect society with the complexities and consequences of climate change. Our professional development approach uses learner-, knowledge-, assessment-, and community-centered strategies to achieve our long-term goal: collaboration of scientists, educators and learners to foster civic literacy about climate change. Two NASA-funded projects, Global Climate Change Literacy for Educators (GCCE, 2009-2012), and the Educators Climatologists Learning Community (ECLC, 2011-2013), have provided the mechanism to provide teachers with scientifically sound and pedagogically relevant educational materials to improve climate and Earth systems literacy among educators. The primary product of the GCCE program is a 16-week, online, distance-delivered, asynchronous course entitled, Laboratory Earth: Human Dimensions of Climate Change. This course consists of four, four-week modules that integrate climate literacy, Earth Systems concepts, and pedagogy focused on active learning processes, building community, action research, and students' sense of place to promote action at the local level to address the challenges of climate change. Overall, the Community of Inquiry Survey (COI) indicated the course was effective in teaching content, developing a community of learners, and engaging students in experiences designed to develop content knowledge. A pre- and post- course Wilcoxan Signed Ranks Test indicated there was a statistically significant increase in participant's beliefs about their personal science teaching efficacy. Qualitative data from concept maps and content mastery assignments support a positive impact on teachers' content knowledge and classroom practice. Service Learning units seemed tohelp teachers connect course learning to their classroom teaching. In addition, qualitative data indicate that teachers' students found service learning to be highly motivational components to learning. The ECLC project, to be initiated in the fall 2011, will build on our GCCE experiences to create a sustainable virtual learning community of educators and scientists. Climate-change issues will serve as a context in which collaborative scientist-educator-teams will develop discrete, locally oriented research projects to facilitate development of confident, knowledgeable citizen-scientists within their classrooms.

Isotopic evolution of the protoplanetary disk and the building blocks of Earth and the Moon.

PubMed

Schiller, Martin; Bizzarro, Martin; Fernandes, Vera Assis

2018-03-21

Nucleosynthetic isotope variability among Solar System objects is often used to probe the genetic relationship between meteorite groups and the rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars), which, in turn, may provide insights into the building blocks of the Earth-Moon system. Using this approach, it has been inferred that no primitive meteorite matches the terrestrial composition and the protoplanetary disk material from which Earth and the Moon accreted is therefore largely unconstrained. This conclusion, however, is based on the assumption that the observed nucleosynthetic variability of inner-Solar-System objects predominantly reflects spatial heterogeneity. Here we use the isotopic composition of the refractory element calcium to show that the nucleosynthetic variability in the inner Solar System primarily reflects a rapid change in the mass-independent calcium isotope composition of protoplanetary disk solids associated with early mass accretion to the proto-Sun. We measure the mass-independent 48 Ca/ 44 Ca ratios of samples originating from the parent bodies of ureilite and angrite meteorites, as well as from Vesta, Mars and Earth, and find that they are positively correlated with the masses of their parent asteroids and planets, which are a proxy of their accretion timescales. This correlation implies a secular evolution of the bulk calcium isotope composition of the protoplanetary disk in the terrestrial planet-forming region. Individual chondrules from ordinary chondrites formed within one million years of the collapse of the proto-Sun reveal the full range of inner-Solar-System mass-independent 48 Ca/ 44 Ca ratios, indicating a rapid change in the composition of the material of the protoplanetary disk. We infer that this secular evolution reflects admixing of pristine outer-Solar-System material into the thermally processed inner protoplanetary disk associated with the accretion of mass to the proto-Sun. The identical calcium isotope composition of Earth and the Moon reported here is a prediction of our model if the Moon-forming impact involved protoplanets or precursors that completed their accretion near the end of the protoplanetary disk's lifetime.

The hills are alive: Earth surface dynamics in the University of Arizona Landscape Evolution Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLong, S.; Troch, P. A.; Barron-Gafford, G. A.; Huxman, T. E.; Pelletier, J. D.; Dontsova, K.; Niu, G.; Chorover, J.; Zeng, X.

2012-12-01

To meet the challenge of predicting landscape-scale changes in Earth system behavior, the University of Arizona has designed and constructed a new large-scale and community-oriented scientific facility - the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO). The primary scientific objectives are to quantify interactions among hydrologic partitioning, geochemical weathering, ecology, microbiology, atmospheric processes, and geomorphic change associated with incipient hillslope development. LEO consists of three identical, sloping, 333 m2 convergent landscapes inside a 5,000 m2 environmentally controlled facility. These engineered landscapes contain 1 meter of basaltic tephra ground to homogenous loamy sand and contains a spatially dense sensor and sampler network capable of resolving meter-scale lateral heterogeneity and sub-meter scale vertical heterogeneity in moisture, energy and carbon states and fluxes. Each ~1000 metric ton landscape has load cells embedded into the structure to measure changes in total system mass with 0.05% full-scale repeatability (equivalent to less than 1 cm of precipitation), to facilitate better quantification of evapotraspiration. Each landscape has an engineered rain system that allows application of precipitation at rates between3 and 45 mm/hr. These landscapes are being studied in replicate as "bare soil" for an initial period of several years. After this initial phase, heat- and drought-tolerant vascular plant communities will be introduced. Introduction of vascular plants is expected to change how water, carbon, and energy cycle through the landscapes, with potentially dramatic effects on co-evolution of the physical and biological systems. LEO also provides a physical comparison to computer models that are designed to predict interactions among hydrological, geochemical, atmospheric, ecological and geomorphic processes in changing climates. These computer models will be improved by comparing their predictions to physical measurements made in LEO. The main focus of our iterative modeling and measurement discovery cycle is to use rapid data assimilation to facilitate validation of newly coupled open-source Earth systems models. LEO will be a community resource for Earth system science research, education, and outreach. The LEO project operational philosophy includes 1) open and real-time availability of sensor network data, 2) a framework for community collaboration and facility access that includes integration of new or comparative measurement capabilities into existing facility cyberinfrastructure, 3) community-guided science planning and 4) development of novel education and outreach programs.Artistic rendering of the University of Arizona Landscape Evolution Observatory

Regional Changes in Earths Color and Texture as Observed From Space Over a 15-Year Period

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, Guangyu; Di Girolamo, Larry; Diner, David J.; Bruegge, Carol J.; Mueller, Kevin J.; Wu, Dong L.

2016-01-01

Earth-observing satellites provide global observations of many geophysical variables. As these variables are derived from measured radiances, the underlying radiance data are the most reliable sources of information for change detection. Here, we identify statistically significant trends in the color and spatial texture of the Earth as viewed from multiple directions from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), which has been sampling the angular distribution of scattered sunlight since 2000. Globally, our results show that the Earth has been appearing relatively bluer (up to 1.6 % per decade from both nadir and oblique views) and smoother (up to 1.5 % per decade only from oblique views) over the past 15 years. The magnitude of the global blueing trends is comparable to that of uncertainties in radiometric calibration stability. Regional shifts in color and texture, which are significantly larger than global means, are observed, particularly over polar regions, along the boundaries of the subtropical highs, the tropical western Pacific, Southwestern Asia, and Australia. We demonstrate that the large regional trends cannot be explained either by uncertainties in radiometric calibration or variability in total or spectral solar irradiance; hence, they reflect changes internal to the Earths climate system. The 15-year-mean true color composites and texture images of the Earth at both nadir and oblique views are also presented for the first time.

Efficient Bulk Data Replication for the Earth System Grid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sim, Alex; Gunter, Dan; Natarajan, Vijaya

2010-03-10

The Earth System Grid (ESG) community faces the difficult challenge of managing the distribution of massive data sets to thousands of scientists around the world. To move data replicas efficiently, the ESG has developed a data transfer management tool called the Bulk Data Mover (BDM). We describe the performance results of the current system and plans towards extending the techniques developed so far for the up- coming project, in which the ESG will employ advanced networks to move multi-TB datasets with the ulti- mate goal of helping researchers understand climate change and its potential impacts on world ecology and society.

Development and application of earth system models.

PubMed

Prinn, Ronald G

2013-02-26

The global environment is a complex and dynamic system. Earth system modeling is needed to help understand changes in interacting subsystems, elucidate the influence of human activities, and explore possible future changes. Integrated assessment of environment and human development is arguably the most difficult and most important "systems" problem faced. To illustrate this approach, we present results from the integrated global system model (IGSM), which consists of coupled submodels addressing economic development, atmospheric chemistry, climate dynamics, and ecosystem processes. An uncertainty analysis implies that without mitigation policies, the global average surface temperature may rise between 3.5 °C and 7.4 °C from 1981-2000 to 2091-2100 (90% confidence limits). Polar temperatures, absent policy, are projected to rise from about 6.4 °C to 14 °C (90% confidence limits). Similar analysis of four increasingly stringent climate mitigation policy cases involving stabilization of greenhouse gases at various levels indicates that the greatest effect of these policies is to lower the probability of extreme changes. The IGSM is also used to elucidate potential unintended environmental consequences of renewable energy at large scales. There are significant reasons for attention to climate adaptation in addition to climate mitigation that earth system models can help inform. These models can also be applied to evaluate whether "climate engineering" is a viable option or a dangerous diversion. We must prepare young people to address this issue: The problem of preserving a habitable planet will engage present and future generations. Scientists must improve communication if research is to inform the public and policy makers better.

BioEarth: Envisioning and developing a new regional earth system model to inform natural and agricultural resource management

DOE PAGES

Adam, Jennifer C.; Stephens, Jennie C.; Chung, Serena H.; ...

2014-04-24

Uncertainties in global change impacts, the complexities associated with the interconnected cycling of nitrogen, carbon, and water present daunting management challenges. Existing models provide detailed information on specific sub-systems (e.g., land, air, water, and economics). An increasing awareness of the unintended consequences of management decisions resulting from interconnectedness of these sub-systems, however, necessitates coupled regional earth system models (EaSMs). Decision makers’ needs and priorities can be integrated into the model design and development processes to enhance decision-making relevance and “usability” of EaSMs. BioEarth is a research initiative currently under development with a focus on the U.S. Pacific Northwest region thatmore » explores the coupling of multiple stand-alone EaSMs to generate usable information for resource decision-making. Direct engagement between model developers and non-academic stakeholders involved in resource and environmental management decisions throughout the model development process is a critical component of this effort. BioEarth utilizes a bottom-up approach for its land surface model that preserves fine spatial-scale sensitivities and lateral hydrologic connectivity, which makes it unique among many regional EaSMs. Here, we describe the BioEarth initiative and highlights opportunities and challenges associated with coupling multiple stand-alone models to generate usable information for agricultural and natural resource decision-making.« less

Light-weight Parallel Python Tools for Earth System Modeling Workflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mickelson, S. A.; Paul, K.; Xu, H.; Dennis, J.; Brown, D. I.

2015-12-01

With the growth in computing power over the last 30 years, earth system modeling codes have become increasingly data-intensive. As an example, it is expected that the data required for the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report (AR6) will increase by more than 10x to an expected 25PB per climate model. Faced with this daunting challenge, developers of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) have chosen to change the format of their data for long-term storage from time-slice to time-series, in order to reduce the required download bandwidth needed for later analysis and post-processing by climate scientists. Hence, efficient tools are required to (1) perform the transformation of the data from time-slice to time-series format and to (2) compute climatology statistics, needed for many diagnostic computations, on the resulting time-series data. To address the first of these two challenges, we have developed a parallel Python tool for converting time-slice model output to time-series format. To address the second of these challenges, we have developed a parallel Python tool to perform fast time-averaging of time-series data. These tools are designed to be light-weight, be easy to install, have very few dependencies, and can be easily inserted into the Earth system modeling workflow with negligible disruption. In this work, we present the motivation, approach, and testing results of these two light-weight parallel Python tools, as well as our plans for future research and development.

The Physical Price of a Ticket into Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawkey, A.

As a direct consequence of exposure to microgravity astronauts experience a number of physiological changes, which can have serious medical implications when they return to Earth. Most immediate and significant are the head-ward shift of body fluids and the removal of gravitational loading from bone and muscles, which lead to progressive changes in the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. Cardiovascular adaptations result in an increased incidence of orthostatic intolerance (fainting) post-flight, decreased cardiac output and reduced exercise capacity. Changes in the musculoskeletal system contribute significantly to the impaired functions experienced in the post-flight period. The underlying factor producing these changes is the absence of gravity. Countermeasures, therefore, are designed primarily to simulate Earth-like movements, stresses and system interactions. Exercise is one approach that has received wide operational use and acceptance in both the US and Russian space programmes, and has enabled humans to stay relatively healthy in space for well over a year. Although it remains the most effective countermeasure currently available, significant physiological degrada- tion still occurs. The development of other countermeasures will therefore be necessary for longer duration missions, such as the human exploration of Mars.

The Earth System's Missing Energy and Land Warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, S.; Wang, H.; Duan, W.

2013-05-01

The energy content of the Earth system is determined by the balance or imbalance between the incoming energy from solar radiation and the outgoing energy of terrestrial long wavelength radiation. Change in the Earth system energy budget is the ultimate cause of global climate change. Satellite data show that there is a small yet persistent radiation imbalance at the top-of-atmosphere such that Earth has been steadily accumulating energy, consistent with the theory of greenhouse effect. It is commonly believed [IPCC, 2001; 2007] that up to 94% of the energy trapped by anthropogenic greenhouse gases is absorbed by the upper several hundred meter thick layer of global oceans, with the remaining to accomplish ice melting, atmosphere heating, and land warming, etc. However, the recent measurements from ocean monitoring system indicated that the rate of oceanic heat uptake has not kept pace with the greenhouse heat trapping rate over the past years [Trenberth and Fasullo, Science, 328: 316-317, 2010]. An increasing amount of energy added to the earth system has become unaccounted for, or is missing. A recent study [Loeb et al., Nature Geoscience, 5:110-113, 2012] suggests that the missing energy may be located in the deep ocean down to 1,800 m. Here we show that at least part of the missing energy can be alternatively explained by the land mass warming. We argue that the global continents alone should have a share greater than 10% of the global warming energy. Although the global lands reflect solar energy at a higher rate, they use less energy for evaporation than do the oceans. Taken into accounts the terrestrial/oceanic differences in albedo (34% vs. 28%) and latent heat (27% vs. 58% of net solar radiation at the surface), the radiative energy available per unit surface area for storage or other internal processes is more abundant on land than on ocean. Despite that the lands cover only about 29% of the globe, the portion of global warming energy stored in the lands is much greater than previously thought. The earth system is consisted of well-connected and interdependent atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. The lack of knowledge about or misrepresentation of the role of the heat capacity of the continental land masses will inevitably affect our ability to understand Earth's climate response to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Diagnostic Studies with GLA Fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salstein, David A.

1997-01-01

Assessments of the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System-1 Data Assimilation System(GEOS-1 DAS), regarding heating rates, energetics, and angular momentum quantities were made. These diagnostics can be viewed as measures of climate variability. Comparisons with the NOAA/NCEP reanalysis system of momentum and energetics diagnostics are included. Water vapor and angular momentum are diagnosed in many models, including those of NASA, as part of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project. 'Me GEOS-I and NOAA/NCEP global atmospheric angular momentum values are coherent on time scales down to about three days. Furthermore, they agree with the series of Earth angular momentum, as measured by tiny fluctuations in the rotation rate of the Earth, as variations in the length of day. The torques that effect such changes in atmospheric and Earth momentum are dominated by the influence of particular mountain systems, including the Rockies, Himalayas, and Andes, upon mountain torques on time scales shorter than about two weeks. Other project areas included collaboration with Goddard Space Flight Center to examine the impact of mountainous areas and the treatments of parameterizations on diagnoses of the atmosphere. Relevant preprints are included herein.

Sequential Imaging of Earth by Astronauts: 50 Years of Global Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, Cynthia A.

2009-01-01

For nearly 50 years, astronauts have collected sequential imagery of the Earth. In fact, the collection of astronaut photography comprises one of the earliest sets of data (1961 to present) available to scientists to study the regional context of the Earth s surface and how it changes. While today s availability of global high resolution satellite imagery enables anyone with an internet connection to examine specific features on the Earth s surface with a regional context, historical satellite imagery adds another dimension (time) that provides researchers and students insight about the features and processes of a region. For example, one of the geographic areas with the longest length of record contained within the astronaut photography database is the lower Nile River. The database contains images that document the flooding of Lake Nasser (an analog to today s flooding behind China s Three Gorges Dam), the changing levels of Lake Nasser s water with multiyear cycles of flood and drought, the recent flooding and drying of the Toshka Lakes, as well as urban growth, changes in agriculture and coastal subsidence. The imagery database allows investigations using different time scales (hours to decades) and spatial scales (resolutions and fields of view) as variables. To continue the imagery collection, the astronauts on the International Space Station are trained to understand basic the Earth Sciences and look for and photograph major events such as tropical storms, landslides, and volcanic eruptions, and document landscapes undergoing change (e.g., coastal systems, cities, changing forest cover). We present examples of selected sequences of astronaut imagery that illustrate the interdependence of geological processes, climate cycles, human geography and development, and prompt additional questions about the underlying elements of change.

Earth Observing System (EOS) Snow and Ice Products for Observation and Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, D.; Kaminski, M.; Cavalieri, D.; Dickinson, R.; Marquis, M.; Riggs, G.; Robinson, D.; VanWoert, M.; Wolfe, R.

2005-01-01

Snow and ice are the key components of the Earth's cryosphere, and their influence on the Earth's energy balance is very significant due at least in part to the large areal extent and high albedo characterizing these features. Large changes in the cryosphere have been measured over the last century and especially over the past decade, and remote sensing plays a pivotal role in documenting these changes. Many of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) products derived from instruments on the Terra, Aqua, and Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) satellites are useful for measuring changes in features that are associated with climate change. The utility of the products is continually enhanced as the length of the time series increases. To gain a more coherent view of the cryosphere and its historical and recent changes, the EOS products may be employed together, in conjunction with other sources of data, and in models. To further this goal, the first EOS Snow and Ice Products Workshop was convened. The specific goals of the workshop were to provide current and prospective users of EOS snow and ice products up-to-date information on the products, their validation status and future enhancements, to help users utilize the data products through hands-on demonstrations, and to facilitate the integration of EOS products into models. Oral and poster sessions representing a wide variety of snow and ice topics were held; three panels were also convened to discuss workshop themes. Panel discussions focused on data fusion and assimilation of the products into models. Approximately 110 people attended, representing a wide array of interests and organizations in the cryospheric community.

Understanding Global Change: Tools for exploring Earth processes and biotic change through time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bean, J. R.; White, L. D.; Berbeco, M.

2014-12-01

Teaching global change is one of the great pedagogical challenges of our day because real understanding entails integrating a variety of concepts from different scientific subject areas, including chemistry, physics, and biology, with a variety of causes and impacts in the past, present, and future. With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize climate change and other human impacts on natural systems, there has never been a better time to provide instructional support to educators on these topics. In response to this clear need, the University of California Museum of Paleontology, in collaboration with the National Center for Science Education, developed a new web resource for teachers and students titled "Understanding Global Change" (UGC) that introduces the drivers and impacts of global change. This website clarifies the connections among deep time, modern Earth system processes, and anthropogenic influences, and provides K-16 instructors with a wide range of easy-to-use tools, strategies, and lesson plans for communicating these important concepts regarding global change and the basic Earth systems processes. In summer 2014, the UGC website was field-tested during a workshop with 25 K-12 teachers and science educators. Feedback from participants helped the UGC team develop and identify pedagogically sound lesson plans and instructional tools on global change. These resources are accessible through UGC's searchable database, are aligned with NGSS and Common Core, and are categorized by grade level, subject, and level of inquiry-based instruction (confirmation, structured, guided, open). Providing a range of content and tools at levels appropriate for teachers is essential because our initial needs assessment found that educators often feel that they lack the content knowledge and expertise to address complex, but relevant global change issues, such as ocean acidification and deforestation. Ongoing needs assessments and surveys of teacher confidence when teaching global change content will continue to drive UGC resource development as the site expands in the future.

Landsat Data

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1997-01-01

In the mid-1960's, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) embarked on an initiative to develop and launch the first Earth monitoring satellite to meet the needs of resource managers and earth scientists. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) entered into a partnership with NASA in the early 1970?s to assume responsibility for archiving data and distributing data products. On July 23, 1972, NASA launched the first in a series of satellites designed to provide repetitive global coverage of the Earth?s land masses. Designated initially as the "Earth Resources Technology Satellite-A" ("ERTS-A"), it used a Nimbus-type platform that was modified to carry sensor systems and data relay equipment. When operational orbit was achieved, it was designated "ERTS-1." The satellite continued to function beyond its designed life expectancy of 1 year and finally ceased to operate on January 6, 1978, more than 5 years after its launch date. The second in this series of Earth resources satellites (designated ?ERTS-B?) was launched January 22, 1975. It was renamed "Landsat 2" by NASA, which also renamed "ERTS-1" as "Landsat 1." Three additional Landsats were launched in 1978, 1982, and 1984 (Landsats 3, 4, and 5 ). (See table 1). NASA was responsible for operating the program through the early 1980?s. In January 1983, operation of the Landsat system was transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In October 1985, the Landsat system was commercialized and the Earth Observation Satellite Company, now Space Imaging EOSAT, assumed responsibility for its operation under contract to NOAA. Throughout these changes, the USGS EROS Data Center (EDC) retained primary responsibility as the Government archive of Landsat data. The Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-5555) officially authorized the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive and assigned responsibility to the Department of the Interior. In addition to its Landsat data management responsibility, the EDC investigates new methods of characterizing and studying changes on the land surface with Landsat data.

Global change data sets: Excerpts from the Master Directory, version 2.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beier, Joy

1992-01-01

The recent awakening to the reality of human-induced changes to the environment has resulted in an organized effort to promote global change research. The goal of this research as outlined by NASA's Earth System Science Committee (Earth System Science: A closer View, 1988) is to understand the entire Earth system on a global scale by describing how its component parts and their interactions have evolved, how they function, and how they may be expected to evolve on all timescales. The practical result is the capacity to predict that evolution over the next decade to century. Key variables important for the study of global change include external forcing factors (solar radiance, UV flux), radiatively and chemically important trace species (CO2, CH4, N2O, etc.), atmospheric response variables (temperature, pressure, winds), landsurface properties (river run-off, snow cover, albedo, soil moisture, vegetation cover), and oceanic variables (sea surface temperature, sea ice extent, sea level ocean wind stress, currents, chlorophyll, biogeochemical fluxes). The purpose of this document is to identify existing data sets available (both remotely sensed and in situ data) covering some of these variables. This is not intended to be a complete list of global change data, but merely a highlight of what is available. The information was extracted from the Master Directory (MD), an on-line scientific data information service which may be used by any researcher. This report contains the coverage dates for the data sets, sources (satellites, instruments) of the data and where they are archived.

New tools for linking human and earth system models: The Toolbox for Human-Earth System Interaction & Scaling (THESIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neill, B. C.; Kauffman, B.; Lawrence, P.

2016-12-01

Integrated analysis of questions regarding land, water, and energy resources often requires integration of models of different types. One type of integration is between human and earth system models, since both societal and physical processes influence these resources. For example, human processes such as changes in population, economic conditions, and policies govern the demand for land, water and energy, while the interactions of these resources with physical systems determine their availability and environmental consequences. We have begun to develop and use a toolkit for linking human and earth system models called the Toolbox for Human-Earth System Integration and Scaling (THESIS). THESIS consists of models and software tools to translate, scale, and synthesize information from and between human system models and earth system models (ESMs), with initial application to linking the NCAR integrated assessment model, iPETS, with the NCAR earth system model, CESM. Initial development is focused on urban areas and agriculture, sectors that are both explicitly represented in both CESM and iPETS. Tools are being made available to the community as they are completed (see https://www2.cgd.ucar.edu/sections/tss/iam/THESIS_tools). We discuss four general types of functions that THESIS tools serve (Spatial Distribution, Spatial Properties, Consistency, and Outcome Evaluation). Tools are designed to be modular and can be combined in order to carry out more complex analyses. We illustrate their application to both the exposure of population to climate extremes and to the evaluation of climate impacts on the agriculture sector. For example, projecting exposure to climate extremes involves use of THESIS tools for spatial population, spatial urban land cover, the characteristics of both, and a tool to bring urban climate information together with spatial population information. Development of THESIS tools is continuing and open to the research community.

Cosmic Influence on the Sun-Earth Environment

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Saumitra

2008-01-01

SOHO satellite data reveals geophysical changes before sudden changes in the Earth's Sun-Earth environment. The influence of extragalactic changes on the Sun as well as the Sun-Earth environment seems to be both periodic and episodic. The periodic changes in terms of solar maxima and minima occur every 11 years, whereas the episodic changes can happen at any time. Episodic changes can be monitored by cosmic ray detectors as a sudden increase or decrease of activity. During these solar and cosmic anomaly periods the environment of the Earth is affected. The Star-Sun-Earth connection has the potential to influence the thermosphere, atmosphere, ionosphere and lithosphere. Initial correlation of the cosmic and Sun-Earth connection has shown the possibility of predicting earthquakes, sudden changes in atmospheric temperatures and erratic rainfall/snowfall patterns. PMID:27873955

Connecting Atlantic temperature variability and biological cycling in two earth system models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gnanadesikan, Anand; Dunne, John P.; Msadek, Rym

2014-05-01

Connections between the interdecadal variability in North Atlantic temperatures and biological cycling have been widely hypothesized. However, it is unclear whether such connections are due to small changes in basin-averaged temperatures indicated by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) Index, or whether both biological cycling and the AMO index are causally linked to changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We examine interdecadal variability in the annual and month-by-month diatom biomass in two Earth System Models with the same formulations of atmospheric, land, sea ice and ocean biogeochemical dynamics but different formulations of ocean physics and thus different AMOC structures and variability. In the isopycnal-layered ESM2G, strong interdecadal changes in surface salinity associated with changes in AMOC produce spatially heterogeneous variability in convection, nutrient supply and thus diatom biomass. These changes also produce changes in ice cover, shortwave absorption and temperature and hence the AMO Index. Off West Greenland, these changes are consistent with observed changes in fisheries and support climate as a causal driver. In the level-coordinate ESM2M, nutrient supply is much higher and interdecadal changes in diatom biomass are much smaller in amplitude and not strongly linked to the AMO index.

On inclusion of water resource management in Earth system models - Part 1: Problem definition and representation of water demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazemi, A.; Wheater, H. S.

2015-01-01

Human activities have caused various changes to the Earth system, and hence the interconnections between human activities and the Earth system should be recognized and reflected in models that simulate Earth system processes. One key anthropogenic activity is water resource management, which determines the dynamics of human-water interactions in time and space and controls human livelihoods and economy, including energy and food production. There are immediate needs to include water resource management in Earth system models. First, the extent of human water requirements is increasing rapidly at the global scale and it is crucial to analyze the possible imbalance between water demands and supply under various scenarios of climate change and across various temporal and spatial scales. Second, recent observations show that human-water interactions, manifested through water resource management, can substantially alter the terrestrial water cycle, affect land-atmospheric feedbacks and may further interact with climate and contribute to sea-level change. Due to the importance of water resource management in determining the future of the global water and climate cycles, the World Climate Research Program's Global Energy and Water Exchanges project (WRCP-GEWEX) has recently identified gaps in describing human-water interactions as one of the grand challenges in Earth system modeling (GEWEX, 2012). Here, we divide water resource management into two interdependent elements, related firstly to water demand and secondly to water supply and allocation. In this paper, we survey the current literature on how various components of water demand have been included in large-scale models, in particular land surface and global hydrological models. Issues of water supply and allocation are addressed in a companion paper. The available algorithms to represent the dominant demands are classified based on the demand type, mode of simulation and underlying modeling assumptions. We discuss the pros and cons of available algorithms, address various sources of uncertainty and highlight limitations in current applications. We conclude that current capability of large-scale models to represent human water demands is rather limited, particularly with respect to future projections and coupled land-atmospheric simulations. To fill these gaps, the available models, algorithms and data for representing various water demands should be systematically tested, intercompared and improved. In particular, human water demands should be considered in conjunction with water supply and allocation, particularly in the face of water scarcity and unknown future climate.

EarthLabs Modules: Engaging Students In Extended, Rigorous Investigations Of The Ocean, Climate and Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manley, J.; Chegwidden, D.; Mote, A. S.; Ledley, T. S.; Lynds, S. E.; Haddad, N.; Ellins, K.

2016-02-01

EarthLabs, envisioned as a national model for high school Earth or Environmental Science lab courses, is adaptable for both undergraduate middle school students. The collection includes ten online modules that combine to feature a global view of our planet as a dynamic, interconnected system, by engaging learners in extended investigations. EarthLabs support state and national guidelines, including the NGSS, for science content. Four modules directly guide students to discover vital aspects of the oceans while five other modules incorporate ocean sciences in order to complete an understanding of Earth's climate system. Students gain a broad perspective on the key role oceans play in fishing industry, droughts, coral reefs, hurricanes, the carbon cycle, as well as life on land and in the seas to drive our changing climate by interacting with scientific research data, manipulating satellite imagery, numerical data, computer visualizations, experiments, and video tutorials. Students explore Earth system processes and build quantitative skills that enable them to objectively evaluate scientific findings for themselves as they move through ordered sequences that guide the learning. As a robust collection, EarthLabs modules engage students in extended, rigorous investigations allowing a deeper understanding of the ocean, climate and weather. This presentation provides an overview of the ten curriculum modules that comprise the EarthLabs collection developed by TERC and found at http://serc.carleton.edu/earthlabs/index.html. Evaluation data on the effectiveness and use in secondary education classrooms will be summarized.

Effects of dynamic long-period ocean tides on changes in Earth's rotation rate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nam, Y.S.; Dickman, S.R.

1990-05-10

As a generalization of the zonal response coefficient first introduced by Agnew and Farrell (1978), the authors define the zonal response function k of the solid earth-ocean system as the ratio, in the frequency domain, of the tidal change in Earth's rotation rate to the tide-generating potential. Amplitudes and phases of k for the monthly, fortnightly, and 9-day lunar tides are estimated from 2 1/2 years of very long baseline interferometry UTI observations (both 5-day and daily time series), corrected for atmospheric angular momentum effects using NMC wind and pressure series. Using the dynamic ocean tide model of Dickman (1988a,more » 1989a), the authors predict amplitudes and phases of k for an elastic earth-ocean system. The predictions confirm earlier results which found that dynamic effects of the longer-period ocean tides reduce the amplitude of k by about 1%. However, agreement with the observed k is best achieved for all three tides if the predicted tide amplitudes are combined with the much larger satellite-observed ocean tide phases; in these cases the dynamic tidal effects reduce k by up to 8%. Finally, comparison between the observed and predicted amplitudes of k implies that anelastic effects on Earth's rotation at periods less than fortnightly cannot exceed 2%.« less

Climate Change Communicators: The C3E3 Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharif, H. O.; Joseph, J.

2013-12-01

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), San Antonio College (SAC), and the University of North Dakota (UND) have partnered with NASA to provide underrepresented undergraduates from UTSA, SAC, and other community colleges climate-related research and education experiences through the Climate Change Communication: Engineer, Environmental science, and Education (C3E3) project. The program aims to develop a robust response to climate change by providing K-16 climate change education; enhance the effectiveness of K-16 education particularly in engineering and other STEM disciplines by use of new instructional technologies; increase the enrollment in engineering programs and the number of engineering degrees awarded by showing engineering's usefulness in relation to the much-discussed contemporary issue of climate change; increase persistence in STEM degrees by providing student research opportunities; and increase the ethnic diversity of those receiving engineering degrees and help ensure an ethnically diverse response to climate change. Students participated in the second summer internship funded by the project. More than 60 students participated in guided research experiences aligned with NASA Science Plan objectives for climate and Earth system science and the educational objectives of the three institutions. The students went through training in modern media technology (webcasts), and in using this technology to communicate the information on climate change to others, especially high school students, culminating in production of webcasts on investigating the aspects of climate change using NASA data. Content developed is leveraged by NASA Earth observation data and NASA Earth system models and tools. Several departments are involved in the educational program.

Undergraduate Students As Effective Climate Change Communicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharif, H. O.; Joseph, J.; Mullendore, G. L.

2014-12-01

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), San Antonio College (SAC), and the University of North Dakota (UND) have partnered with NASA to provide underrepresented undergraduates from UTSA, SAC, and other community colleges climate-related research and education experiences through the Climate Change Communication: Engineer, Environmental science, and Education (C3E3) project. The program aims to develop a robust response to climate change by providing K-16 climate change education; enhance the effectiveness of K-16 education particularly in engineering and other STEM disciplines by use of new instructional technologies; increase the enrollment in engineering programs and the number of engineering degrees awarded by showing engineering's usefulness in relation to the much-discussed contemporary issue of climate change; increase persistence in STEM degrees by providing student research opportunities; and increase the ethnic diversity of those receiving engineering degrees and help ensure an ethnically diverse response to climate change. Students participated in the second summer internship funded by the project. The program is in its third year. More than 75 students participated in a guided research experiences aligned with NASA Science Plan objectives for climate and Earth system science and the educational objectives of the three institutions. The students went through training in modern media technology (webcasts), and in using this technology to communicate the information on climate change to others, especially high school students, culminating in production of webcasts on investigating the aspects of climate change using NASA data. Content developed is leveraged by NASA Earth observation data and NASA Earth system models and tools. Three Colleges were involved in the program: Engineering, Education, and Science.

Enabling Climate Science Investigations by Students Using Cryosphere Climate Data Records (CDRs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ledley, T. S.; Youngman, B.; Meier, W.; Bardar, E.

2010-12-01

The polar regions are particularly sensitive to changes in the climate system, and as such changes can be recognized there first. Scientists make use of this to help them develop and execute research programs that will deepen and expand our understanding of the climate system. However, the same cryosphere CDRs collected by scientists are a useful and reliable resource for helping students investigate and discover the manifestations and implications of global climate change. We have developed a number of avenues to facilitate the use of cryosphere CDRs in educational contexts. These include the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET, http://serc.carleton.edu/eet), DataSheets (http://serc.carleton.edu/usingdata/browse_sheets.html), and Cryosphere-EarthLabs (http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/earthlabs/cryosphere). The EET is an online resource comprised of “chapters”, each of which focuses on a specific Earth science dataset and data analysis tool. Chapters provide step-by-step instructions for accessing the dataset and analysis tool, putting the data into the tool, and conducting an analysis around a specific scientific concept or issue. There are a number of EET chapters that utilize cryosphere CDRs. The EET chapter “Whither Arctic Sea Ice?” uses ~30 years of Arctic sea ice extent images and image processing software to study changes in sea ice extent. “Is Greenland Melting?” uses ice thickness data, ice melting extents and weather station data to examine the changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. Other EET chapters that utilize cryosphere CDRs include “Using NASA NEO and ImageJ to Explore the Role of Snow Cover in Shaping Climate” and “Envisioning Climate Change Using a Global Climate Model.” In addition to creating these activities to facilitate the use of cryosphere CDRs we have also created DataSheets for these CDRs. DataSheets are educationally relevant human readable metadata about a dataset that provide both the scientific background information about the dataset as well as the topics and skills that can be taught using the dataset. DataSheets enable an educator to make effective use of a dataset outside the context of an educational activity. A DataSheet created for the sea ice index used in the “Whither Arctic Sea Ice? EET chapter is “Exploring Sea Ice Data From Satellites.” An EarthLabs module is a suite of 7-9 labs intended to be the laboratory component of a high-school capstone Earth and Space Science course. The Cryosphere-EarthLabs module focuses on sea ice to help students deepen their understanding of change over time in the climate system on multiple and embedded time scales. The module contains hands-on activities and investigations using online cryosphere CDRs to help students understand the how sea ice forms and varies, how the cryosphere changes, and the causes of those changes on time scales ranging from the seasonal to ice age time scales. In this presentation we will examine the EET and EarthLabs resources that help educators and students explore climate change using cryosphere CDRs; examine the DataSheets for these datasets; and describe how your cryosphere CDRs can be made available through these resources.

High resolution climate projection of storm surge at the Venetian coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mel, R.; Sterl, A.; Lionello, P.

2013-04-01

Climate change impact on storm surge regime is of great importance for the safety and maintenance of Venice. In this study a future storm surge scenario is evaluated using new high resolution sea level pressure and wind data recently produced by EC-Earth, an Earth System Model based on the operational seasonal forecast system of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The study considers an ensemble of six 5 yr long simulations of the rcp45 scenario at 0.25° resolution and compares the 2094-2098 to the 2004-2008 period. EC-Earth sea level pressure and surface wind fields are used as input for a shallow water hydrodynamic model (HYPSE) which computes sea level and barotropic currents in the Adriatic Sea. Results show that a high resolution climate model is needed for producing realistic values of storm surge statistics and confirm previous studies in that they show little sensitivity of storm surge levels to climate change. However, some climate change signals are detected, such as increased persistence of high pressure conditions, an increased frequency of windless hour, and a decreased number of moderate windstorms.

Summary and synthesis

Treesearch

V. Alaric Sample; Christopher Topik

2014-01-01

America’s forests are undergoing changes unlike any seen before in human history. The concept of the Anthropocene Era, a new geologic epoch characterized by anthropogenic dominance over the Earth’s systems, has become an important framework for thinking about the processes and consequences of worldwide environmental change, particularly global climate change,...

Seasonal change: a device built to show why and how it happens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marques, J. B.; Rocha, P. S.; Couto da Silva, T. C.

2003-08-01

Most of people believe that the seasonal change is caused by the varying distance between the Earth and the Sun as the Earth moves on its orbit around the Sun. If the varying solar distance were the cause of change of seasons, both the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth would have the same seasonal change at the same time. But what happens is that the hemispheres have opposites seasons : when it is summer in the north it is winter in the south; when it is spring in the north it is autumn in the south, and vice-versa. The greatest factor responsible for this occurrence is the 23.5º tilt of Earth's rotational axis relative to the perpendicular to its orbit, and the fact that the Earth's rotational axis maintains a constant direction as the Earth orbits the Sun. This causes a 23.5º tilt of the celestial equator relative to the plane which contains the Sun. Because of this, the Sun can be seen as high as 23.5º above the celestial equator and low as 23.5º below it at any hemisphere. In an attempt to demonstrate why different seasons occur during the time the Earth takes to go around the Sun, a witty and original device was built using low price material such as : sewing machine pulley, wood pulley, woodbasis, wood rod, metal rod, metal bearing, metal axis, leash, nylon wire, double copper wire, isopor ball, pen tube, interrupter, lamp, nipple, plug, crank. This allow teachers to reproduce the device with their students. The idea of building a device with this goal is not new. However, a simple device which keeps the rotational axis of a figurative Earth constant in direction as it moves around the representative Sun was not found out in astronomy teaching literature. This device allows this to occur because the pen tube (which acts as the Earth's rotational axis) remains free to spin around the metal axis, kept settled. The pen tube is connected by a leash to the metal rod settled on the wood basis. When the wood system rod + pulley is turned round through a crank, the representative Earth's rotational axis (pen tube), is kept free to spin around the metal axis, maintaining its initial configuration. It is worthwhile to notice that the metal rod and the pen tube must have the same thickness. That is necessary because after a full revolution the wood system rod + pulley and the pen tube must return to the same position to keep the representative Earth's rotational axis with its initial configuration. The teacher may also explain to the students that the Earth's rotational axis really changes its positions in a very smooth way, in a period of nearly 26,000 years. This time is much greater than the lifetime of a human being, but this motion is noticed since ancient time. The device works as a helpful instrument to a teacher in any introductory astronomy course.

Native Geoscience: Pathways to Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolman, J. R.; Seielstad, G.

2006-12-01

We are living in a definite time of change. Distinct changes are being experienced in our most sacred and natural environments. This is especially true on Native lands. Native people have lived for millennia in distinct and unique ways. The knowledge of balancing the needs of people with the needs of our natural environments is paramount in all tribal societies. This inherent accumulated knowledge has become the foundation on which to build a "blended" contemporary understanding of western science. The Dakota's and Northern California have embraced the critical need of understanding successful tribal strategies to engage educational systems (K-12 and higher education), to bring to prominence the professional development opportunities forged through working with tribal peoples and ensure the continued growth of Native earth and environmental scientists The presentation will highlight: 1) past and present philosophies on building and maintaining Native/Tribal students in earth and environmental sciences; 2) successful educational programs/activities in PreK-Ph.D. systems; 3) current Native leadership development in earth and environmental sciences; and 4) forward thinking for creating proaction collaborations addressing sustainable environmental, educational and social infrastructures for all people. Humboldt State University (HSU) and the University of North Dakota's Northern Great Plains Center for People and the Environment and the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC) have been recognized nationally for their partnerships with Native communities. Unique collaborations are emerging "bridging" Native people across geographic areas in developing educational/research experiences which integrate the distinctive earth/environmental knowledge of tribal people. The presentation will highlight currently funded projects and initiatives as well as success stories of emerging Native earth system students and scientists.

The Sun, Its Extended Corona, the Interplanetary Space, the Earth's Magnetosphere, Ionosphere, Middle and Low Atmosphere, are All Parts of a Complex System - the Heliosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gopalswamy, Natchimuthuk

2011-01-01

Various manifestations of solar activity cause disturbances known as space weather effects in the interplanetary space, near-Earth environment, and all the Earth's "spheres. Longterm variations in the frequency, intensity and relative importance of the manifestations of solar activity are due to the slow changes in the output of the solar dynamo, and they define space climate. Space climate governs long-term variations in geomagnetic activity and is the primary natural driver of terrestrial climate. To understand how the variable solar activity affects the Earth's environment, geomagnetic activity and climate on both short and long time scales, we need to understand the origins of solar activity itself and its different manifestations, as well as the sequence of coupling processes linking various parts of the system. This session provides a forum to discuss the chain of processes and relations from the Sun to the Earth's surface: the origin and long-term and short-term evolution of solar activity, initiation and temporal variations in solar flares, CMEs, coronal holes, the solar wind and its interaction with the terrestrial magnetosphere, the ionosphere and its connection to the neutral dominated regions below and the plasma dominated regions above, the stratosphere, its variations due to the changing solar activity and its interactions with the underlying troposphere, and the mechanisms of solar influences on the lower atmosphere on different time-scales. Particularly welcome are papers highlighting the coupling processes between the different domains in this complex system.

Physical Processes Controlling Earth's Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Genio, Anthony Del

2013-01-01

As background for consideration of the climates of the other terrestrial planets in our solar system and the potential habitability of rocky exoplanets, we discuss the basic physics that controls the Earths present climate, with particular emphasis on the energy and water cycles. We define several dimensionless parameters relevant to characterizing a planets general circulation, climate and hydrological cycle. We also consider issues associated with the use of past climate variations as indicators of future anthropogenically forced climate change, and recent advances in understanding projections of future climate that might have implications for Earth-like exoplanets.

Temporal Variability of Observed and Simulated Hyperspectral Earth Reflectance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, Yolanda; Pilewskie, Peter; Kindel, Bruce; Feldman, Daniel; Collins, William D.

2012-01-01

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) is a climate observation system designed to study Earth's climate variability with unprecedented absolute radiometric accuracy and SI traceability. Observation System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were developed using GCM output and MODTRAN to simulate CLARREO reflectance measurements during the 21st century as a design tool for the CLARREO hyperspectral shortwave imager. With OSSE simulations of hyperspectral reflectance, Feldman et al. [2011a,b] found that shortwave reflectance is able to detect changes in climate variables during the 21st century and improve time-to-detection compared to broadband measurements. The OSSE has been a powerful tool in the design of the CLARREO imager and for understanding the effect of climate change on the spectral variability of reflectance, but it is important to evaluate how well the OSSE simulates the Earth's present-day spectral variability. For this evaluation we have used hyperspectral reflectance measurements from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY), a shortwave spectrometer that was operational between March 2002 and April 2012. To study the spectral variability of SCIAMACHY-measured and OSSE-simulated reflectance, we used principal component analysis (PCA), a spectral decomposition technique that identifies dominant modes of variability in a multivariate data set. Using quantitative comparisons of the OSSE and SCIAMACHY PCs, we have quantified how well the OSSE captures the spectral variability of Earth?s climate system at the beginning of the 21st century relative to SCIAMACHY measurements. These results showed that the OSSE and SCIAMACHY data sets share over 99% of their total variance in 2004. Using the PCs and the temporally distributed reflectance spectra projected onto the PCs (PC scores), we can study the temporal variability of the observed and simulated reflectance spectra. Multivariate time series analysis of the PC scores using techniques such as Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) and Multichannel SSA will provide information about the temporal variability of the dominant variables. Quantitative comparison techniques can evaluate how well the OSSE reproduces the temporal variability observed by SCIAMACHY spectral reflectance measurements during the first decade of the 21st century. PCA of OSSE-simulated reflectance can also be used to study how the dominant spectral variables change on centennial scales for forced and unforced climate change scenarios. To have confidence in OSSE predictions of the spectral variability of hyperspectral reflectance, it is first necessary for us to evaluate the degree to which the OSSE simulations are able to reproduce the Earth?s present-day spectral variability.

Variations of the Milankovitch frequencies in time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loutre, Marie-France; Berger, A.

1992-01-01

The sensitivity of the amplitudes and frequencies in the development of the Earth's orbital and rotational elements involved in the astronomical theory of paleoclimates (eccentricity, obliquity, and climate precession), to the Earth-Moon distance and consequently to the length of the day and to the dynamical ellipticity of the Earth has been discussed for the last billions of years. The shortening of the Earth-Moon distance and of the length of the day, as well as the lengthening of the dynamical ellipticity of the Earth back in time induce a shortening of the fundamental astronomical periods for precession and obliquity. At the same time, the amplitudes of the different terms in the development of the obliquity are undergoing a relative enlargement of about 50 percent at 2 x 10(exp 9) yr BP but the independent term is increasing very weakly (less than 0.1 percent). In other words, the value of the obliquity, which lies within a range of 21.7 to 24.9 deg over the Quarternary was restricted to a range of 22.5 to 24.1 deg at 2 x 10(exp 9) yr BP. On the other hand, the amplitudes in the development of the climatic precession do not change. Moreover, these changes in the frequencies and amplitudes for both obliquity and climatic precession are larger for longer period terms. Finally, the periods in the eccentricity development are not influenced by the variation of the lunar distance. But the motion of the solar system, especially of the inner planets, was shown to be chaotic. It means that it is impossible to compute the exact motion of the planets over more than about 100 Myr, and the fundamental frequencies of the systems are not fixed quantities, but are slowly varying with time. As long as we consider the most important terms, the maximum deviation from the present-day value of the 19-kyr precessional period due to the chaotic motion of the solar system only does not reach more than a few tens of years around 80 Myr BP. Therefore the shortening of the obliquity and climatic precession periods is mostly driven by the change in the lunar distance and the consequent variations in the dynamical ellipticity of the Earth's angular speed. At first sight, the deviation in the period for the eccentricity can be neglected, as the chaotic behavior of the solar system implies a relative change of the main periods by less than 0.2 percent, 1.4 percent, and 1.9 percent respectively, this maximum change being achieved around 80 Myr BP. This implies, in particular, that the eccentricity periods for Quarternary climate studies may be considered more or less constant for pre-Quaternay times and equal to their Quaternary values.

Heliophysics 2009 Roadmap and Global Change: Possibilities for Improved Understanding of the Connection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spann, Jim

2010-01-01

Heliophysics is the science that includes all aspects of the research needed to understand the Sun and its effects on the Earth and the solar system. Six science targets: 1. Origins of Near-Earth Plasma - to understand the origin and transport of terrestrial plasma from its source to the magnetosphere and solar wind. 2. Solar Energetic Particle Acceleration and Transport - to understand how and where solar eruptions accelerate energetic particles that reach Earth. 3. Ion-Neutral Coupling in the Atmosphere - to understand how neutral winds control ionospheric variability. 4. Climate Impacts of Space Radiation - to understand our atmosphere s response to auroral, radiation belt, and solar energetic particles, and the associated effects on nitric oxide (NO) and ozone. 5. Dynamic Geospace Coupling - to understand how magnetospheric dynamics provides energy into the coupled ionosphere-magnetosphere system. 6. Heliospheric Magnetics - to understand the flow and dynamics of transient magnetic structures form the solar interior to Earth.

Project Longshot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

West, J. Curtis; Chamberlain, Sally A.; Stevens, Robert; Pagan, Neftali

1989-01-01

Project Longshot is an unmanned probe to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, 4.3 light years away. The Centauri system is a trinary system consisting of two central stars (A and B) orbiting a barycenter, and a third (Proxima Centauri) orbiting the two. The system is a declination of -67 degrees. The goal is to reach the Centauri system in 50 years. This time space was chosen because any shorter time would be impossible of the relativistic velocities involved, and any greater time would be impossible because of the difficulty of creating a spacecraft with such a long lifetime. Therefore, the following mission profile is proposed: (1) spacecraft is assembled in Earth orbit; (2) spacecraft escapes Earth and Sun in the ecliptic with a single impulse maneuver; (3) spacecraft changed declination to point toward Centauri system; (4) spacecraft accelerates to 0.1c; (5) spacecraft coasts at 0.1c for 41 years; (6) spacecraft decelerates upon reaching Centauri system; and (7) spacecraft orbits Centauri system, conducts investigations, and relays data to Earth. The total time to reach the Centauri system, taking into consideration acceleration and deceleration, will be approximately 50 years.

Coupling integrated assessment and earth system models: concepts and an application to land use change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neill, B. C.; Lawrence, P.; Ren, X.

2016-12-01

Collaboration between the integrated assessment modeling (IAM) and earth system modeling (ESM) communities is increasing, driven by a growing interest in research questions that require analysis integrating both social and natural science components. This collaboration often takes the form of integrating their respective models. There are a number of approaches available to implement this integration, ranging from one-way linkages to full two-way coupling, as well as approaches that retain a single modeling framework but improve the representation of processes from the other framework. We discuss the pros and cons of these different approaches and the conditions under which a two-way coupling of IAMs and ESMs would be favored over a one-way linkage. We propose a criterion that is necessary and sufficient to motivate two-way coupling: A human process must have an effect on an earth system process that is large enough to cause a change in the original human process that is substantial compared to other uncertainties in the problem being investigated. We then illustrate a test of this criterion for land use-climate interactions based on work using the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and land use scenarios from the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), in which we find that the land use effect on regional climate is unlikely to meet the criterion. We then show an example of implementing a one-way linkage of land use and agriculture between an IAM, the integrated Population-Economy-Technology-Science (iPETS) model, and CESM that produces fully consistent outcomes between iPETS and the CESM land surface model. We use the linked system to model the influence of climate change on crop yields, agricultural land use, crop prices and food consumption under two alternative future climate scenarios. This application demonstrates the ability to link an IAM to a global land surface and climate model in a computationally efficient manner.

KSC-02pd0328

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-02-26

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- The Aqua-EOS satellite rests on a stand in the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg AFB. Aqua will provide a six year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow scientists to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. The Focus for the Aqua Project is the multi-disciplinary study of the Earth's Interrelated Processes (atmosphere, oceans, and land surface) and their relationship to earth system changes. The global change research emphasized with the Aqua instrument data sets include: atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance; terrestrial snow and sea ice; sea surface temperature and ocean productivity; soil moisture; and the improvement of numerical weather prediction. Aqua-EOS is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II 7920-10L vehicle on April 18, 2002

KSC-02pd0331

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-02-27

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- The Aqua-EOS satellite is lifted to vertical in the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg AFB. Aqua will provide a six year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow scientists to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. The Focus for the Aqua Project is the multi-disciplinary study of the Earth's Interrelated Processes (atmosphere, oceans, and land surface) and their relationship to earth system changes. The global change research emphasized with the Aqua instrument data sets include: atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance; terrestrial snow and sea ice; sea surface temperature and ocean productivity; soil moisture; and the improvement of numerical weather prediction. Aqua-EOS is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II 7920-10L vehicle on April 18, 2002

KSC-02pd0329

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-02-27

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- The Aqua-EOS satellite is lifted by an overhead crane in the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg AFB. Aqua will provide a six year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow scientists to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. The Focus for the Aqua Project is the multi-disciplinary study of the Earth's Interrelated Processes (atmosphere, oceans, and land surface) and their relationship to earth system changes. The global change research emphasized with the Aqua instrument data sets include: atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance; terrestrial snow and sea ice; sea surface temperature and ocean productivity; soil moisture; and the improvement of numerical weather prediction. Aqua-EOS is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II 7920-10L vehicle on April 18, 2002

KSC-02pd0332

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-02-28

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- The Aqua-EOS satellite is again horizontal for instrument deployment while in the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg AFB. Aqua will provide a six year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow scientists to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. The Focus for the Aqua Project is the multi-disciplinary study of the Earth's Interrelated Processes (atmosphere, oceans, and land surface) and their relationship to earth system changes. The global change research emphasized with the Aqua instrument data sets include: atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance; terrestrial snow and sea ice; sea surface temperature and ocean productivity; soil moisture; and the improvement of numerical weather prediction. Aqua-EOS is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II 7920-10L vehicle on April 18, 2002

KSC-02pd0333

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-02-28

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- Workers in the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg AFB work on instrument deployment of the Aqua-EOS satellite. Aqua will provide a six year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow scientists to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. The Focus for the Aqua Project is the multi-disciplinary study of the Earth's Interrelated Processes (atmosphere, oceans, and land surface) and their relationship to earth system changes. The global change research emphasized with the Aqua instrument data sets include: atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance; terrestrial snow and sea ice; sea surface temperature and ocean productivity; soil moisture; and the improvement of numerical weather prediction. Aqua-EOS is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II 7920-10L vehicle on April 18, 2002

KSC-02pd0327

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-02-26

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- The Aqua-EOS satellite is uncovered in the Spaceport Systems International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg AFB. Aqua will provide a six year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow scientists to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. The Focus for the Aqua Project is the multi-disciplinary study of the Earth's Interrelated Processes (atmosphere, oceans, and land surface) and their relationship to earth system changes. The global change research emphasized with the Aqua instrument data sets include: atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance; terrestrial snow and sea ice; sea surface temperature and ocean productivity; soil moisture; and the improvement of numerical weather prediction. Aqua-EOS is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II 7920-10L vehicle on April 18, 2002

Earth observation photography: Looking back 20 years after Skylab

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicholson, James H.

1992-01-01

A committee of trained classroom teachers, backed by a volunteer team of technical experts and academic advisors has developed a program for earth science based on photographs obtained from low earth orbit. In selecting targeting objectives, immediate note was made of the fact nearly one generation (20 years) has passed since the United States' ambitious SKYLAB program was conducted. A critical part of those missions was the acquisition of earth photography using a six camera, multi-spectral camera system. This objective was systematically furthered through the term of three separate crew visits to the Space Station. Not merely an exercise in randomly photographing the Earth below, the purpose of the Earth Resource Experiment Package (EREP) was to determine what kind, and how much, photographic data could be acquired of the broad variety of Earth features witnessed on the mission's ground track. The collection of 35,000 photos produced by EREP represents the most complete coverage of Earth. However, it remains under used. GAS 324 intends to revisit, and to add a tier of relevancy to this inventory. The photography of GAS 324 should allow a direct examination and comparison of the changes in the globe in the last 20 years. format in both coverage and quality. The photogra phy acquired by CAN DO should allow a direct examination and comparison of the changes that have occured to the Globe in the last twenty years.

From the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative to the Northern Eurasia Future Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Streletskiy, D. A.; Groisman, P. Y.; Shugart, H. H., Jr.; Gulev, S.; Maksyutov, S. S.; Qi, J.

2017-12-01

Since 2004, the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) - an interdisciplinary program of internationally-supported Earth systems and science research - has addressed large-scale and long-term manifestations of climate and environmental changes over Northern Eurasia and their impact on the Global Earth system. With 40 books and more than 1500 peer-reviewed journal publications to its credit, NEESPI's output can now be used to directly support decision-making for societal needs. Specifically, it was decided to shift gradually the foci of regional studies in Northern Eurasia towards applications with the following major Science Question: "What dynamic and interactive change(s) will affect societal well-being, activities, and health, and what might be the mitigation and adaptation strategies that could support sustainable development and decision-making activities in Northern Eurasia?" To answer this question requires a stronger socio-economic component in the ongoing and future regional studies focused on sustainable societal development under changing climatic and environmental conditions. The NEESPI Research Team has reorganized itself into "Northern Eurasia Future Initiative" (NEFI) and developed a new Science Plan released in June 2016. The Plan underwent a 6-month-long public review and was finalized at the end of 2016. Its description was thereafter split between two review papers: Groisman et al. (2017) and Monier et al. (2017). The first paper describes the Plan rationale and a new set of topical questions. The second paper describes a major modeling approach that will be employed in addressing the "what to do" questions of the NEFI Research (cf., presentation by Monier et al. at this Session). In the current presentation, we outline the new NEFI research foci and present latest NEFI findings including international projects in the Eurasian Arctic, boreal zone, and the Dry Land Belt of Northern Eurasia (cf., also presentations at sister-Session GC027). References:Groisman, P.Y. et al. 2017: Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI): Facing the Challenges and Pathways of Global Change in the 21st Century. Progress Earth and Planet Sci in review.Monier, E., et al: 2017: A Review of and Perspectives on Global Change Modeling for Northern Eurasia. Enviro. Res Lett in press.

Orbital Noise in the Earth System is a Common Cause of Climate and Greenhouse-Gas Fluctuation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, H. S.; Kolenkiewicz, R.; Wade, C., Jr.; Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The mismatch between fossil isotopic data and climate models known as the cool-tropic paradox implies that either the data are flawed or we understand very little about the climate models of greenhouse warming. Here we question the validity of the climate models on the scientific background of orbital noise in the Earth system. Our study shows that the insolation pulsation induced by orbital noise is the common cause of climate change and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane. In addition, we find that the intensity of the insolation pulses is dependent on the latitude of the Earth. Thus, orbital noise is the key to understanding the troubling paradox in climate models.

Development and use of long-term, global data records of forest, water, and urban change for terrestrial ecology and carbon cycle science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sexton, J. O.

2015-12-01

Earth's human population has risen over the last century from less than 2 billion to over 7 billion people. The current "Anthropocene Era" has brought changes in Earth's landforms, climate, biodiversity, atmosphere, and hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles, as well as the expansion and intensification of human land use. As the emerging nexus of the physical, biological, and social sciences, measurements of Earth's natural and anthropogenic land cover are needed to understand and manage the coupled dynamics of human and natural systems. In recent years, NASA-sponsored efforts have produced global, time-serial estimates of tree cover using the MOderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the world's first global, Landsat-based datasets representing tree and forest cover change from 1990 to 2010. These data are fueling global and national estimates of the rate and acceleration of deforestation as well as international commitments to conserve forest ecosystems. Likewise, Landsat-based datasets documenting Earth's inland surface waters are enabling the world's first global, high-resolution estimates of water cover based on repeatable satellite measurements. Meanwhile, long-term, time-serial estimates of impervious surface cover are being used to model the effect of urbanization on storm-water runoff, watershed health, and stream biodiversity. MODIS-based records of plant phenology are depicting the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems to drought and are informing land managers of the sensitivity of wildlife to climate and plant phenology. Natural ecosystems are complex and potentially chaotic even in the absence of anthropogenic influence, and so understanding these interactions between physical, biological, and social systems is increasingly crucial under escalating human impacts. Globally consistent, locally accurate, and publicly available records spanning multiple decades at high frequency are the living legacy of the NASA Earth Science Programs. Satellite-based monitoring of ecosystem dynamics has improved the objectivity, precision, and sustainability of ecosystem management, which is paramount not only for conserving ecosystem function, but also for adapting socio-economic systems to their changing biophysical environment.

Space Transfer Concepts and Analyses for Exploration Missions. Technical Directive 12: Beamed Power Systems Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eder, D.

1992-01-01

Parametric models were constructed for Earth-based laser powered electric orbit transfer from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit. These models were used to carry out performance, cost/benefit, and sensitivity analyses of laser-powered transfer systems including end-to-end life cycle cost analyses for complete systems. Comparisons with conventional orbit transfer systems were made indicating large potential cost savings for laser-powered transfer. Approximate optimization was done to determine best parameter values for the systems. Orbit transfer flights simulations were conducted to explore effects of parameters not practical to model with a spreadsheet. The simulations considered view factors that determine when power can be transferred from ground stations to an orbit transfer vehicle and conducted sensitivity analyses for numbers of ground stations, Isp including dual-Isp transfers, and plane change profiles. Optimal steering laws were used for simultaneous altitude and plane change. Viewing geometry and low-thrust orbit raising were simultaneously simulated. A very preliminary investigation of relay mirrors was made.

Application of Ontologies for Big Earth Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, T.; Chang, G.; Armstrong, E. M.; Boening, C.

2014-12-01

Connected data is smarter data! Earth Science research infrastructure must do more than just being able to support temporal, geospatial discovery of satellite data. As the Earth Science data archives continue to expand across NASA data centers, the research communities are demanding smarter data services. A successful research infrastructure must be able to present researchers the complete picture, that is, datasets with linked citations, related interdisciplinary data, imageries, current events, social media discussions, and scientific data tools that are relevant to the particular dataset. The popular Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET) ontologies is a collection of ontologies and concepts designed to improve discovery and application of Earth Science data. The SWEET ontologies collection was initially developed to capture the relationships between keywords in the NASA Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). Over the years this popular ontologies collection has expanded to cover over 200 ontologies and 6000 concepts to enable scalable classification of Earth system science concepts and Space science. This presentation discusses the semantic web technologies as the enabling technology for data-intensive science. We will discuss the application of the SWEET ontologies as a critical component in knowledge-driven research infrastructure for some of the recent projects, which include the DARPA Ontological System for Context Artifact and Resources (OSCAR), 2013 NASA ACCESS Virtual Quality Screening Service (VQSS), and the 2013 NASA Sea Level Change Portal (SLCP) projects. The presentation will also discuss the benefits in using semantic web technologies in developing research infrastructure for Big Earth Science Data in an attempt to "accommodate all domains and provide the necessary glue for information to be cross-linked, correlated, and discovered in a semantically rich manner." [1] [1] Savas Parastatidis: A platform for all that we know: creating a knowledge-driven research infrastructure. The Fourth Paradigm 2009: 165-172

Biospheric feedback effects in a synchronously coupled model of human and Earth systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thornton, Peter E.; Calvin, Katherine; Jones, Andrew D.

Fossil fuel combustion and land-use change are the two largest contributors to industrial-era increases in atmospheric CO 2 concentration. Projections of these are thus fundamental inputs for coupled Earth system models (ESMs) used to estimate the physical and biological consequences of future climate system forcing. While historical datasets are available to inform past and current climate analyses, assessments of future climate change have relied on projections of energy and land use from energy economic models, constrained by assumptions about future policy, land-use patterns, and socio-economic development trajectories. We show that the climatic impacts on land ecosystems drives significant feedbacks inmore » energy, agriculture, land-use, and carbon cycle projections for the 21st century. We also find that exposure of human appropriated land ecosystem productivity to biospheric change results in reductions of land area used for crops; increases in managed forest area and carbon stocks; decreases in global crop prices; and reduction in fossil fuel emissions for a low-mid range forcing scenario. Furthermore, the feedbacks between climate-induced biospheric change and human system forcings to the climate system demonstrated here are handled inconsistently, or excluded altogether, in the one-way asynchronous coupling of energy economic models to ESMs used to date.« less

Biospheric feedback effects in a synchronously coupled model of human and Earth systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thornton, Peter E.; Calvin, Katherine; Jones, Andrew D.; di Vittorio, Alan V.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Chini, Louise; Shi, Xiaoying; Mao, Jiafu; Collins, William D.; Edmonds, Jae; Thomson, Allison; Truesdale, John; Craig, Anthony; Branstetter, Marcia L.; Hurtt, George

2017-07-01

Fossil fuel combustion and land-use change are the two largest contributors to industrial-era increases in atmospheric CO 2 concentration. Projections of these are thus fundamental inputs for coupled Earth system models (ESMs) used to estimate the physical and biological consequences of future climate system forcing. While historical data sets are available to inform past and current climate analyses, assessments of future climate change have relied on projections of energy and land use from energy-economic models, constrained by assumptions about future policy, land-use patterns and socio-economic development trajectories. Here we show that the climatic impacts on land ecosystems drive significant feedbacks in energy, agriculture, land use and carbon cycle projections for the twenty-first century. We find that exposure of human-appropriated land ecosystem productivity to biospheric change results in reductions of land area used for crops; increases in managed forest area and carbon stocks; decreases in global crop prices; and reduction in fossil fuel emissions for a low-mid-range forcing scenario. The feedbacks between climate-induced biospheric change and human system forcings to the climate system--demonstrated here--are handled inconsistently, or excluded altogether, in the one-way asynchronous coupling of energy-economic models to ESMs used to date.

Biospheric feedback effects in a synchronously coupled model of human and Earth systems

DOE PAGES

Thornton, Peter E.; Calvin, Katherine; Jones, Andrew D.; ...

2017-06-12

Fossil fuel combustion and land-use change are the two largest contributors to industrial-era increases in atmospheric CO 2 concentration. Projections of these are thus fundamental inputs for coupled Earth system models (ESMs) used to estimate the physical and biological consequences of future climate system forcing. While historical datasets are available to inform past and current climate analyses, assessments of future climate change have relied on projections of energy and land use from energy economic models, constrained by assumptions about future policy, land-use patterns, and socio-economic development trajectories. We show that the climatic impacts on land ecosystems drives significant feedbacks inmore » energy, agriculture, land-use, and carbon cycle projections for the 21st century. We also find that exposure of human appropriated land ecosystem productivity to biospheric change results in reductions of land area used for crops; increases in managed forest area and carbon stocks; decreases in global crop prices; and reduction in fossil fuel emissions for a low-mid range forcing scenario. Furthermore, the feedbacks between climate-induced biospheric change and human system forcings to the climate system demonstrated here are handled inconsistently, or excluded altogether, in the one-way asynchronous coupling of energy economic models to ESMs used to date.« less

Observation duration analysis for Earth surface features from a Moon-based platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Hanlin; Guo, Huadong; Liu, Guang; Ren, Yuanzhen

2018-07-01

Earth System Science is a discipline that performs holistic and comprehensive research on various components of the Earth. One of a key issue for the Earth monitoring and observation is to enhance the observation duration, the time intervals during which the Earth surface features can be observed by sensors. In this work, we propose to utilise the Moon as an Earth observation platform. Thanks to the long distance between the Earth and the Moon, and the vast space on the lunar surface which is suitable for sensor installation, this Earth observation platform could have large spatial coverage, long temporal duration, and could perform multi-layer detection of the Earth. The line of sight between a proposed Moon-based platform and the Earth will change with different lunar surface positions; therefore, in this work, the position of the lunar surface was divided into four regions, including one full observation region and three incomplete observation regions. As existing methods are not able to perform global-scale observations, a Boolean matrix method was established to calculate the necessary observation durations from a Moon-based platform. Based on Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) ephemerides and Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), a formula was developed to describe the geometrical relationship between the Moon-based platform and Earth surface features in the unified spatial coordinate system and the unified time system. In addition, we compared the observation geometries at different positions on the lunar surface and two parameters that are vital to observation duration calculations were considered. Finally, an analysis method was developed. We found that the observation duration of a given Earth surface feature shows little difference regardless of sensor position within the full observation region. However, the observation duration for sensors in the incomplete observation regions is reduced by at least half. In summary, our results demonstrate the suitability of a Moon-based platform located in the full observation region.

Advanced power systems for EOS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Sheila G.; Weinberg, Irving; Flood, Dennis J.

1991-01-01

The Earth Observing System, which is part of the International Mission to Planet Earth, is NASA's main contribution to the Global Change Research Program. Five large platforms are to be launched into polar orbit: two by NASA, two by the European Space Agency, and one by the Japanese. In such an orbit the radiation resistance of indium phosphide solar cells combined with the potential of utilizing 5 micron cell structures yields an increase of 10 percent in the payload capability. If further combined with the Advanced Photovoltaic Solar Array, the total additional payload capability approaches 12 percent.

Non-dynamic decimeter tracking of earth satellites using the Global Positioning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yunck, T. P.; Wu, S. C.

1986-01-01

A technique is described for employing the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the position of a low earth orbiter with decimeter accuracy without the need for user dynamic models. A differential observing strategy is used requiring a GPS receiver on the user vehicle and a network of six ground receivers. The technique uses the continuous record of position change obtained from GPS carrier phase to smooth position measurements made with pseudo-range. The result is a computationally efficient technique that can deliver decimeter accuracy down to the lowest altitude orbits.

A sensitive slope: estimating landscape patterns of forest resilience in a changing climate

Treesearch

Jill F. Johnstone; Eliot J.B. McIntire; Eric J. Pedersen; Gregory King; Michael J.F. Pisaric

2010-01-01

Changes in Earth's environment are expected to stimulate changes in the composition and structure of ecosystems, but it is still unclear how the dynamics of these responses will play out over time. In long-lived forest systems, communities of established individuals may be resistant to respond to directional climate change, but may be highly sensitive to climate...

Building a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and Its Interoperability Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryan, B. J.

2015-12-01

Launched in 2005 by industrialized nations, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) began building the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Consisting of both a policy framework, and an information infrastructure, GEOSS, was intended to link and/or integrate the multitude of Earth observation systems, primarily operated by its Member Countries and Participating Organizations, so that users could more readily benefit from global information assets for a number of society's key environmental issues. It was recognized that having ready access to observations from multiple systems was a prerequisite for both environmental decision-making, as well as economic development. From the very start, it was also recognized that the shear complexity of the Earth's system cannot be captured by any single observation system, and that a federated, interoperable approach was necessary. While this international effort has met with much success, primarily in advancing broad, open data policies and practices, challenges remain. In 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland) and 2015 (Mexico City, Mexico), Ministers from GEO's Member Countries, including the European Commission, came together to assess progress made during the first decade (2005 to 2015), and approve implementation strategies and mechanisms for the second decade (2016 to 2025), respectively. The approved implementation strategies and mechanisms are intended to advance GEOSS development thereby facilitating the increased uptake of Earth observations for informed decision-making. Clearly there are interoperability challenges that are technological in nature, and several will be discussed in this presentation. There are, however, interoperability challenges that can be better characterized as economic, governmental and/or political in nature, and these will be discussed as well. With the emergence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) having occurred this year, it will be essential that the interoperability challenges described herein, regardless of their nature, be expeditiously addressed so that Earth observations can indeed inform societal decision-making.

Pumping-induced stress and strain in aquifer systems in Wuxi, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yun; Yu, Jun; Gong, Xulong; Wu, Jichun; Wang, Zhecheng

2018-05-01

Excessive groundwater withdrawal from an aquifer system leads to three-dimensional displacement, causing changes in the states of stress and strain. Often, land subsidence and sometimes earth fissures ensue. Field investigation indicates that land subsidence and earth fissures in Wuxi, a city in eastern China, are mainly due to excessive groundwater withdrawal, and that they are temporally and spatially related to groundwater pumping. Groundwater withdrawal may cause tensile strain to develop in aquifer systems, but tensile strain does not definitely mean tensile stress. Where earth fissures are concerned, the stress state should be adopted in numerical simulations instead of the strain state and displacement. The numerical simulation undertaken for the Wuxi area shows that the zone of tensile strain occupies a large area on the ground surface; nevertheless, the zone of tensile stress is very limited. The zone of tensile stress often occurs near the ground surface, beneath which the depth to the bedrock surface is relatively small and has considerable variability. Earth fissures often initiate near the ground surface where tensile stress occurs. Tensile stress and earth fissures rarely develop at the centers of land subsidence bowls, where compressive stress is dominant.

Biospheric feedback effects in a synchronously coupled model of human and Earth systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thornton, P. E.; Calvin, K. V.; Jones, A. D.; Di Vittorio, A. V.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Chini, L. P.; Shi, X.; Mao, J.; Collins, W. D.; Edmonds, J.; Hurtt, G. C.

2017-12-01

Fossil fuel combustion and land-use change are the two largest contributors to industrial-era increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Projections of these are thus fundamental inputs for coupled Earth system models (ESMs) used to estimate the physical and biological consequences of future climate system forcing. While historical datasets are available to inform past and current climate analyses, assessments of future climate change have relied on projections of energy and land use from energy economic models, constrained by assumptions about future policy, land-use patterns, and socio-economic development trajectories. In this work we show that the climatic impacts on land ecosystems drives significant feedbacks in energy, agriculture, land-use, and carbon cycle projections for the 21st century. We find that exposure of human appropriated land ecosystem productivity to biospheric change results in reductions of land area used for crops; increases in managed forest area and carbon stocks; decreases in global crop prices; and reduction in fossil fuel emissions for a low-mid range forcing scenario. Land ecosystem response to increased carbon dioxide concentration, increased anthropogenic nitrogen deposition, and changes in temperature and precipitation all play a role. The feedbacks between climate-induced biospheric change and human system forcings to the climate system demonstrated in this work are handled inconsistently, or excluded altogether, in the one-way asynchronous coupling of energy economic models to ESMs used to date.

Climate Literacy: Progress in Climate and Global Change Undergraduate Courses in Meteorology and Earth System Science Programs at Jackson State University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy, S. R.; Tuluri, F.; Fadavi, M.

2017-12-01

JSU Meteorology Program will be offering AMS Climate Studies undergraduate course under MET 210: Climatology in spring 2013. AMS Climate Studies is offered as a 3 credit hour laboratory course with 2 lectures and 1 lab sessions per week. Although this course places strong intellectual demands upon each student, the instructors' objective is to help each student to pass the course with an adequate understanding of the fundamentals and advanced and advanced courses. AMS Climate Studies is an introductory college-level course developed by the American Meteorological Society for implementation at undergraduate institutions nationwide. The course places students in a dynamic and highly motivational educational environment where they investigate Earth's climate system using real-world environmental data. The AMS Climate Studies course package consists of a textbook, investigations manual, course website, and course management system-compatible files. Instructors can use these resources in combinations that make for an exciting learning experience for their students. This is a content course in Earth Science. It introduces a new concept that views Earth as a synergistic physical system applied concepts of climatology, for him/her to understand basic atmospheric/climate processes, physical and dynamical climatology, regional climatology, past and future climates and statistical analysis using climate data and to be prepared to profit from studying more of interrelated phenomenon governed by complex processes involving the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere, and the solid Earth. The course emphasizes that the events that shape the physical, chemical, and biological processes of the Earth do not occur in isolation. Rather, there is a delicate relationship between the events that occur in the ocean, atmosphere, and the solid Earth. The course provides a multidimensional approach in solving scientific issues related to Earth-related sciences,

Development and application of earth system models

PubMed Central

Prinn, Ronald G.

2013-01-01

The global environment is a complex and dynamic system. Earth system modeling is needed to help understand changes in interacting subsystems, elucidate the influence of human activities, and explore possible future changes. Integrated assessment of environment and human development is arguably the most difficult and most important “systems” problem faced. To illustrate this approach, we present results from the integrated global system model (IGSM), which consists of coupled submodels addressing economic development, atmospheric chemistry, climate dynamics, and ecosystem processes. An uncertainty analysis implies that without mitigation policies, the global average surface temperature may rise between 3.5 °C and 7.4 °C from 1981–2000 to 2091–2100 (90% confidence limits). Polar temperatures, absent policy, are projected to rise from about 6.4 °C to 14 °C (90% confidence limits). Similar analysis of four increasingly stringent climate mitigation policy cases involving stabilization of greenhouse gases at various levels indicates that the greatest effect of these policies is to lower the probability of extreme changes. The IGSM is also used to elucidate potential unintended environmental consequences of renewable energy at large scales. There are significant reasons for attention to climate adaptation in addition to climate mitigation that earth system models can help inform. These models can also be applied to evaluate whether “climate engineering” is a viable option or a dangerous diversion. We must prepare young people to address this issue: The problem of preserving a habitable planet will engage present and future generations. Scientists must improve communication if research is to inform the public and policy makers better. PMID:22706645

On the Effects of the Evolution of Microbial Mats and Land Plants on the Earth as a Planet. Photometric and Spectroscopic Light Curves of Paleo-Earths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanromá, E.; Pallé, E.; García Munõz, A.

2013-04-01

Understanding the spectral and photometric variability of the Earth and the rest of the solar system planets has become of utmost importance for the future characterization of rocky exoplanets. As this is not only interesting at present times but also along the planetary evolution, we studied the effect that the evolution of microbial mats and plants over land has had on the way our planet looks from afar. As life evolved, continental surfaces changed gradually and non-uniformly from deserts through microbial mats to land plants, modifying the reflective properties of the ground and most likely the distribution of moisture and cloudiness. Here, we used a radiative transfer model of the Earth, together with geological paleo-records of the continental distribution and a reconstructed cloud distribution, to simulate the visible and near-IR radiation reflected by our planet as a function of Earth's rotation. We found that the evolution from deserts to microbial mats and to land plants produces detectable changes in the globally averaged Earth's reflectance. The variability of each surface type is located in different bands and can induce reflectance changes of up to 40% in period of hours. We conclude that by using photometric observations of an Earth-like planet at different photometric bands it would be possible to discriminate between different surface types. While recent literature proposes the red-edge feature of vegetation near 0.7 μm as a signature for land plants, observations in near-IR bands can be equally or even better suited for this purpose.

Geophysical Monitoring of Geodynamic Processes of Central Armenia Earth Crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avetyan, R.; Pashayan, R.

2016-12-01

The method of geophysical monitoring of earth crust was introduced. It allows by continuous supervision to track modern geodynamic processes of Armenia. Methodological practices of monitoring come down to allocation of a signal which reflects deformation of rocks. The indicators of deformations are not only deviations of geophysical indicators from certain background values, but also parameters of variations of these indicators. Data on changes of parameters of barometric efficiency and saw tooth oscillations of underground water level before seismic events were received. Low-amplitude periodic fluctuations of water level are the reflection of geodynamic processes taking place in upper levels of earth crust. There were recorded fluctuations of underground water level resulting from luni-solar tides and enabling to control the systems of borehole-bed in changes of voluminous deformations. The slow lowering (raising) of underground water level in the form of trend reflects long-period changes of stress-deformative state of environment. Application of method promotes identification of medium-term precursors on anomalous events of variations of geomagnetic field, change of content of subsoil radon, dynamics of level of underground water, geochemistry and water temperature. Increase of activity of geodynamic processes in Central Armenian tectonic complex is observed to change macro component Na+, Ca2+, Mg2-, CL-, SO42-, HCO3-, H4SiO4, pH and gas - CO2 structure of mineral water. Modern geodynamic movements of earth crust of Armenia are the result of seismic processes and active geodynamics of deep faults of longitudinal and transversal stretching. Key Words: monitoring, hydrogeodynamics, geomagnetic field, seismicity, deformation, earth crust

The tropospheric emission spectrometer (TES) for the Earth Observing System (EOS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beer, R.

1992-01-01

In recent years, increasing concern has been expressed about Global Change - the natural and anthropogenic alteration of the Earth's environment involving global greenhouse warming and the associated climate change, urban and regional atmospheric pollution, acid deposition, regional increases in tropospheric zone, and the decrease in stratospheric ozone. A common theme among these problems is that they all involve those tropospheric trace gases which are fundamental to the biosphere-troposphere interaction, the chemistry of the free troposphere itself, and troposphere-stratosphere exchange. The chemical species involved all have spectral signatures within the near and mid infrared that can now be measured by advanced techniques of remote-sensing infrared spectroradiometry. Such a system is the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), now in Phase B definition for the Earth Observing System (EOS) polar platforms. TES addresses these objectives by obtaining radiometrically calibrated, linewidth-limited spectral resolution, infrared spectra of the lower atmosphere using both natural thermal emission and reflected sunlight (where appropriate) in three different, but fully programmable, modes: a gobal mode, a pointed mode, and a limb-viewing mode. The goals of TES, its instrumentation, operational modes, sensitivity and data handling are discussed.

The Worldviews Network: Transformative Global Change Education in Immersive Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, H.; Yu, K. C.; Gardiner, N.; McConville, D.; Connolly, R.; "Irving, Lindsay", L. S.

2011-12-01

Our modern age is defined by an astounding capacity to generate scientific information. From DNA to dark matter, human ingenuity and technologies create an endless stream of data about ourselves and the world of which we are a part. Yet we largely founder in transforming information into understanding, and understanding into rational action for our society as a whole. Earth and biodiversity scientists are especially frustrated by this impasse because the data they gather often point to a clash between Earth's capacity to sustain life and the decisions that humans make to garner the planet's resources. Immersive virtual environments offer an underexplored link in the translation of scientific data into public understanding, dialogue, and action. The Worldviews Network is a collaboration of scientists, artists, and educators focused on developing best practices for the use of immersive environments for science-based ecological literacy education. A central tenet of the Worldviews Network is that there are multiple ways to know and experience the world, so we are developing scientifically accurate, geographically relevant, and culturally appropriate programming to promote ecological literacy within informal science education programs across the United States. The goal of Worldviews Network is to offer transformative learning experiences, in which participants are guided on a process integrating immersive visual explorations, critical reflection and dialogue, and design-oriented approaches to action - or more simply, seeing, knowing, and doing. Our methods center on live presentations, interactive scientific visualizations, and sustainability dialogues hosted at informal science institutions. Our approach uses datasets from the life, Earth, and space sciences to illuminate the complex conditions that support life on earth and the ways in which ecological systems interact. We are leveraging scientific data from federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and our own research to develop a library of immersive visualization stories and templates that explore ecological relationships across time at cosmic, global, and bioregional scales, with learning goals aligned to climate and earth science literacy principles. These experiential narratives are used to increase participants' awareness of global change issues as well as to engage them in dialogues and design processes focused on steps they can take within their own communities to systemically address these interconnected challenges. More than 600 digital planetariums in the U.S. collectively represent a pioneering opportunity for distributing Earth systems messages over large geographic areas. By placing the viewer-and Earth itself-within the context of the rest of the universe, digital planetariums can uniquely provide essential transcalar perspectives on the complex interdependencies of Earth's interacting physical and biological systems. The Worldviews Network is creating innovative, data-driven approaches for engaging the American public in dialogues about human-induced global changes.

Progressive Climate Change on Titan: Implications for Habitability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, J. M.; A. D. Howard

2014-01-01

Titan's landscape is profoundly shaped by its atmosphere and comparable in magnitude perhaps with only the Earth and Mars amongst the worlds of the Solar System. Like the Earth, climate dictates the intensity and relative roles of fluvial and aeolian activity from place to place and over geologic time. Thus Titan's landscape is the record of climate change. We have investigated three broad classes of Titan climate evolution hypotheses (Steady State, Progressive, and Cyclic), regulated by the role, sources, and availability of methane. We favor the Progressive hypotheses, which we will outline here, then discuss their implication for habitability.

The Landsat program: Its origins, evolution, and impacts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lauer, D.T.; Morain, S.A.; Salomonson, V.V.

1997-01-01

Landsat 1 began an era of space-based resource data collection that changed the way science, industry, governments, and the general public view the Earth. For the last 25 years, the Landsat program - despite being hampered by institutional problems and budget uncertainties - has successfully provided a continuous supply of synoptic, repetitive, multi-spectral data of the Earth's land areas. These data have profoundly affected programs for mapping resources, monitoring environmental changes, and assessing global habitability. The societal applications this program generated are so compelling that international systems have proliferated to carry on the tasks initiated with Landsat data.

Formalizing An Approach to Curate the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD)'s Controlled Vocabularies (Keywords) Through a Keyword Governance Process and Community Involvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, T.

2016-12-01

NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) curates a hierarchical set of controlled vocabularies (keywords) covering Earth sciences and associated information (data centers, projects, platforms, and instruments). The purpose of the keywords is to describe Earth science data and services in a consistent and comprehensive manner, allowing for precise metadata search and subsequent retrieval of data and services. The keywords are accessible in a standardized SKOS/RDF/OWL representation and are used as an authoritative taxonomy, as a source for developing ontologies, and to search and access Earth Science data within online metadata catalogs. The keyword curation approach involves: (1) receiving community suggestions; (2) triaging community suggestions; (3) evaluating keywords against a set of criteria coordinated by the NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Standards Office; (4) implementing the keywords; and (5) publication/notification of keyword changes. This approach emphasizes community input, which helps ensure a high quality, normalized, and relevant keyword structure that will evolve with users' changing needs. The Keyword Community Forum, which promotes a responsive, open, and transparent process, is an area where users can discuss keyword topics and make suggestions for new keywords. Others could potentially use this formalized approach as a model for keyword curation.

Evolution of Web Services in EOSDIS: Search and Order Metadata Registry (ECHO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, Andrew; Ramapriyan, Hampapuram; Lowe, Dawn

2009-01-01

During 2005 through 2008, NASA defined and implemented a major evolutionary change in it Earth Observing system Data and Information System (EOSDIS) to modernize its capabilities. This implementation was based on a vision for 2015 developed during 2005. The EOSDIS 2015 Vision emphasizes increased end-to-end data system efficiency and operability; increased data usability; improved support for end users; and decreased operations costs. One key feature of the Evolution plan was achieving higher operational maturity (ingest, reconciliation, search and order, performance, error handling) for the NASA s Earth Observing System Clearinghouse (ECHO). The ECHO system is an operational metadata registry through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA's Earth science data and services. ECHO contains metadata for 2,726 data collections comprising over 87 million individual data granules and 34 million browse images, consisting of NASA s EOSDIS Data Centers and the United States Geological Survey's Landsat Project holdings. ECHO is a middleware component based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The system is comprised of a set of infrastructure services that enable the fundamental SOA functions: publish, discover, and access Earth science resources. It also provides additional services such as user management, data access control, and order management. The ECHO system has a data registry and a services registry. The data registry enables organizations to publish EOS and other Earth-science related data holdings to a common metadata model. These holdings are described through metadata in terms of datasets (types of data) and granules (specific data items of those types). ECHO also supports browse images, which provide a visual representation of the data. The published metadata can be mapped to and from existing standards (e.g., FGDC, ISO 19115). With ECHO, users can find the metadata stored in the data registry and then access the data either directly online or through a brokered order to the data archive organization. ECHO stores metadata from a variety of science disciplines and domains, including Climate Variability and Change, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Earth Surface and Interior, Atmospheric Composition, Weather, and Water and Energy Cycle. ECHO also has a services registry for community-developed search services and data services. ECHO provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources (data, service and clients). In their native state, these data, service and client resources are not necessarily targeted for use beyond their original mission. However, with the proper interoperability mechanisms, users of these resources can expand their value, by accessing, combining and applying them in unforeseen ways.

Collaborative Proposal: Improving Decadal Prediction of Arctic Climate Variability and Change Using a Regional Arctic System Model (RASM)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maslowski, Wieslaw

This project aims to develop, apply and evaluate a regional Arctic System model (RASM) for enhanced decadal predictions. Its overarching goal is to advance understanding of the past and present states of arctic climate and to facilitate improvements in seasonal to decadal predictions. In particular, it will focus on variability and long-term change of energy and freshwater flows through the arctic climate system. The project will also address modes of natural climate variability as well as extreme and rapid climate change in a region of the Earth that is: (i) a key indicator of the state of global climate throughmore » polar amplification and (ii) which is undergoing environmental transitions not seen in instrumental records. RASM will readily allow the addition of other earth system components, such as ecosystem or biochemistry models, thus allowing it to facilitate studies of climate impacts (e.g., droughts and fires) and of ecosystem adaptations to these impacts. As such, RASM is expected to become a foundation for more complete Arctic System models and part of a model hierarchy important for improving climate modeling and predictions.« less

Satellite Models for Global Environmental Change in the NASA Health and Air Quality Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haynes, J.; Estes, S. M.

2015-12-01

Satellite remote sensing of the environment offers a unique vantage point that can fill in the gaps of environmental, spatial, and temporal data for tracking disease. Health and Air Quality providers and researchers are effective by the global environmental changes that are occurring and they need environmental data to study and understand the geographic, environmental, and meteorological differences in disease. This presentation maintains a diverse constellation of Earth observing research satellites and sponsors research in developing satellite data applications across a wide spectrum of areas including environmental health; infectious disease; air quality standards, policies, and regulations; and the impact of climate change on health and air quality. Successfully providing predictions with the accuracy and specificity required by decision makers will require advancements over current capabilities in a number of interrelated areas. These areas include observations, modeling systems, forecast development, application integration, and the research to operations transition process. This presentation will highlight many projects on which NASA satellites have been a primary partner with local, state, Federal, and international operational agencies over the past twelve years in these areas. Domestic and International officials have increasingly recognized links between environment and health. Health providers and researchers need environmental data to study and understand the geographic, environmental, and meteorological differences in disease. The presentation is directly related to Earth Observing systems and Global Health Surveillance and will present research results of the remote sensing environmental observations of earth and health applications, which can contribute to the health research. As part of NASA approach and methodology they have used Earth Observation Systems and Applications for Health Models to provide a method for bridging gaps of environmental, spatial, and temporal data for tracking disease.

Climate change as an ecosystem architect: implications to rare plant ecology, conservation, and restoration

Treesearch

Constance I. Millar

2003-01-01

Recent advances in earth system sciences have revealed significant new information relevant to rare plant ecology and conservation. Analysis of climate change at high resolution with new and precise proxies of paleotemperatures reveals a picture over the past two million years of oscillatory climate change operating simultaneously at multiple timescales. Low-frequency...

Land cover change map comparisons using open source web mapping technologies

Treesearch

Erik Lindblom; Ian Housman; Tony Guay; Mark Finco; Kevin Megown

2015-01-01

The USDA Forest Service is evaluating the status of current landscape change maps and assessing gaps in their information content. These activities have been occurring under the auspices of the Landscape Change Monitoring System (LCMS) project, which is a joint effort between USFS Research, USFS Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC), USGS Earth Resources...

Re-Evaluating Satellite Solar Power Systems for Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landis, Geoffrey A.

2006-01-01

The Solar Power Satellite System is a concept to collect solar power in space, and then transport it to the surface of the Earth by microwave (or possibly laser) beam, where if is converted into electrical power for terrestrial use. The recent increase in energy costs, predictions of the near-term exhaustion of oil, and prominence of possible climate change due to the "greenhouse effect" from burning of fossil fuels has again brought alternative energy sources to public attention, and the time is certainly appropriate to reexamine the economics of space based power. Several new concepts for Satellite Power System designs were evaluated to make the concept more economically feasible.

Wetlab-2 - Quantitative PCR Tools for Spaceflight Studies of Gene Expression Aboard the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schonfeld, Julie E.

2015-01-01

Wetlab-2 is a research platform for conducting real-time quantitative gene expression analysis aboard the International Space Station. The system enables spaceflight genomic studies involving a wide variety of biospecimen types in the unique microgravity environment of space. Currently, gene expression analyses of space flown biospecimens must be conducted post flight after living cultures or frozen or chemically fixed samples are returned to Earth from the space station. Post-flight analysis is limited for several reasons. First, changes in gene expression can be transient, changing over a timescale of minutes. The delay between sampling on Earth can range from days to months, and RNA may degrade during this period of time, even in fixed or frozen samples. Second, living organisms that return to Earth may quickly re-adapt to terrestrial conditions. Third, forces exerted on samples during reentry and return to Earth may affect results. Lastly, follow up experiments designed in response to post-flight results must wait for a new flight opportunity to be tested.

University of Rhode Island Regional Earth Systems Center

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rothstein, Lewis; Cornillon, P.

The primary objective of this program was to establish the URI Regional Earth System Center (“Center”) that would enhance overall societal wellbeing (health, financial, environmental) by utilizing the best scientific information and technology to achieve optimal policy decisions with maximum stakeholder commitment for energy development, coastal environmental management, water resources protection and human health protection, while accelerating regional economic growth. The Center was to serve to integrate existing URI institutional strengths in energy, coastal environmental management, water resources, and human wellbeing. This integrated research, educational and public/private sector outreach Center was to focus on local, state and regional resources. Themore » centerpiece activity of the Center was in the development and implementation of integrated assessment models (IAMs) that both ‘downscaled’ global observations and interpolated/extrapolated regional observations for analyzing the complexity of interactions among humans and the natural climate system to further our understanding and, ultimately, to predict the future state of our regional earth system. The Center was to begin by first ‘downscaling’ existing global earth systems management tools for studying the causes of local, state and regional climate change and potential social and environmental consequences, with a focus on the regional resources identified above. The Center would ultimately need to address the full feedbacks inherent in the nonlinear earth systems by quantifying the “upscaled” impacts of those regional changes on the global earth system. Through an interacting suite of computer simulations that are informed by observations from the nation’s evolving climate observatories, the Center activities integrates climate science, technology, economics, and social policy into forecasts that will inform solutions to pressing issues in regional climate change science, ‘green economy’ investment and climate policy. These project objectives were designed as part of a 5-year program, which would have constituted the initial phase for the establishment of the Center. Almost immediately (i.e. before receiving even the first year of funding) we were informed that we would not be receiving any funding beyond the initial phase; one year. This seriously impacted our ability to deliver on our objectives and, with that, a re-scoping of the Center priorities was designed to fit the 1-year constraints on funding. It was decided that, given the Center’s emphasis on building IAMs, the best way to proceed was to first focus on one particularly important component of the IAM – a natural sciences model that would be useful for research and forecasting of the circualation/ecology/biogeochemistry of RI’s coastal waters. We have succeeded on that necessarily more limited objective, as we will describe below.« less

The Transformation of Climate Models to Earth System Models and their Role in Policy Development and Decision Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Washington, W. M.

2012-12-01

We have seen over the last few decades continued improvement in climate models such that they are becoming Earth system models (ESMs). Usually climate models use specified concentrations of greenhouse gases whereas ESMs allow carbon, water, biochemical and other cycles to be fully interactive between various model components. Typically ESMs have atmospheric, ocean, land/vegetation, sea ice, urbanization components and some are starting to include glacier change which can directly affect sea level change. Steve Schneider, for whom this lecture is named after, strongly encouraged the development of such models and he went further to strongly suggest that these tools be developed beyond just the climate science questions. The modeling community needs to be interacting with the social, behavioral, and economic science communities. This would allow for realistic humankind interactions with the Earth system. In 2012, the federal government with advice from the National Academies developed a new strategic plan for the U. S. Global Change Research Program entitled The National Global Change Research Plan 2012-2021. This new plan has added the social, behavioral, and economic sciences to the mix of research expertise. It should be pointed out that the Global Change Research Act of 1990 passed by Congress specified strategic goals: advance science, inform decisions, conduct assessments, and communicate and educate. In order to carry out these goals an implementation plan is being put together by the 13 federal agencies and departments. Throughout Steve's professional life, he knew that to make global change understood required this broad community of sciences to work together to answer the questions that the public and policymakers had about environmental change. This talk will not only be about the historical developments in the field but also about the future research challenges. As part of the talk I will show several unpublished video segments of Steve explaining what mankind should do about climate and global change.

Obstacles facing Africa's young climate scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dike, Victor Nnamdi; Addi, Martin; Andang'o, Hezron Awiti; Attig, Bahar Faten; Barimalala, Rondrotiana; Diasso, Ulrich Jacques; Du Plessis, Marcel; Lamine, Salim; Mongwe, Precious N.; Zaroug, Modathir; Ochanda, Valentine Khasenye

2018-06-01

Current and future climate change poses a substantial threat to the African continent. Young scientists are needed to advance Earth systems science on the continent, but they face significant challenges.

The Earth Observation Data for Habitat Monitoring (EODHaM) system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucas, Richard; Blonda, Palma; Bunting, Peter; Jones, Gwawr; Inglada, Jordi; Arias, Marcela; Kosmidou, Vasiliki; Petrou, Zisis I.; Manakos, Ioannis; Adamo, Maria; Charnock, Rebecca; Tarantino, Cristina; Mücher, Caspar A.; Jongman, Rob H. G.; Kramer, Henk; Arvor, Damien; Honrado, Joāo Pradinho; Mairota, Paola

2015-05-01

To support decisions relating to the use and conservation of protected areas and surrounds, the EU-funded BIOdiversity multi-SOurce monitoring System: from Space TO Species (BIO_SOS) project has developed the Earth Observation Data for HAbitat Monitoring (EODHaM) system for consistent mapping and monitoring of biodiversity. The EODHaM approach has adopted the Food and Agriculture Organization Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) taxonomy and translates mapped classes to General Habitat Categories (GHCs) from which Annex I habitats (EU Habitats Directive) can be defined. The EODHaM system uses a combination of pixel and object-based procedures. The 1st and 2nd stages use earth observation (EO) data alone with expert knowledge to generate classes according to the LCCS taxonomy (Levels 1 to 3 and beyond). The 3rd stage translates the final LCCS classes into GHCs from which Annex I habitat type maps are derived. An additional module quantifies changes in the LCCS classes and their components, indices derived from earth observation, object sizes and dimensions and the translated habitat maps (i.e., GHCs or Annex I). Examples are provided of the application of EODHaM system elements to protected sites and their surrounds in Italy, Wales (UK), the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and India.

The Evolution and Disruption of Planetary Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laughlin, Gregory; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Planetary systems that encounter passing stars can experience severe orbital disruption, and the efficiency of this process is greatly enhanced when the impinging systems are binary pairs rather than single stars. Using a Monte Carlo approach, we have performed nearly half a million numerical experiments to examine the long term ramifications of planetary scattering on planetary systems. We have concluded that systems which form in dense environments such as Orion's Trapezium cluster have roughly a ten percent chance of being seriously disrupted. We have also used our programs to explore the long-term prospects for our own Solar system. Given the current interstellar environment, we have computed the odds that Earth will find its orbit seriously disrupted prior to the emergence of a runaway greenhouse effect driven by the Sun's increasing luminosity. This estimate includes both direct disruption events and scattering processes that seriously alter the orbits of the Jovian planets, which then force severe changes upon the Earth's orbit. We then explore the consequences of the Earth being thrown into deep space. The surface biosphere would rapidly shut down under conditions of zero insolation, but the Earth's radioactive heat is capable of maintaining life deep underground, and perhaps in hydrothermal vent communities, for some time to come. Although unlikely for the Earth, this scenario may be common throughout the universe, since many environments where liquid water could exist (e.g., Europa and Callisto) must derive their energy from internal (rather than external) heating.

Earth's Constant Mean Elevation: Implication for Long-Term Sea Level and Controlled by Ocean Lithosphere Dynamics in a Pitman World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowley, David

2017-04-01

On a spherical Earth, the mean elevation ( -2440m) would be everywhere at a mean Earth radius from the center. This directly links an elevation at the surface to physical dimensions of the Earth, including surface area and volume that are at most very slowly evolving components of the Earth system. Earth's mean elevation thus provides a framework within which to consider changes in heights of Earth's solid surface as a function of time. In this paper the focus will be on long-term, non-glacially controlled sea level. Long-term sea level has long been argued to be largely controlled by changes in ocean basin volume related to changes in area-age distribution of oceanic lithosphere. As generally modeled by Pitman (1978) and subsequent workers, the age-depth relationship of oceanic lithosphere, including both the ridge depth and coefficients describing the age-depth relationship are assumed constant. This paper examines the consequences of adhering to these assumptions when placed within the larger framework of maintaining a constant mean radius of the Earth. Self-consistent estimates of long-term sea level height and changes in mean depth of the oceanic crust are derived from the assumption that the mean elevation and corresponding mean radius are unchanging aspects of Earth's shorter-term evolution. Within this context, changes in mean depth of the oceanic crust, corresponding with changes in mean age of the oceanic lithosphere, acting over the area of the oceanic crust represent a volume change that is required to be balanced by a compensating equal but opposite volume change under the area of the continental crust. Models of paleo-cumulative hypsometry derived from a starting glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA)-corrected ice-free hypsometry that conserve mean elevation provide a basis for understanding how these compensating changes impact global hypsometry and particularly estimates of global mean shoreline height. Paleo-shoreline height and areal extent of flooding can be defined as the height and corresponding cumulative area of the solid surface of the Earth at which the integral of area as a function of elevation, from the maximum depth upwards, equals the volume of ocean water filling it with respect to cumulative paleo-hypsometry. Present height of the paleo-shoreline is the height on the GIA-corrected cumulative hypsometry at an area equal to the areal extent of flooding. Paleogeographic estimates of global extent of ocean flooding from the Middle Jurassic to end Eocene, when combined with conservation of mean elevation and ocean water volume allow an explicit estimate of the paleo-height and present height of the paleo-shoreline. The best-fitting estimate of present height of the paleo-shoreline, equivalent to a long-term "eustatic" sea level curve, implies very modest (25±22m) changes in long-term sea level above the ice-free sea level height of +40m. These, in turn, imply quite limited changes in mean depth of the oceanic crust (15±11m), and mean age of the oceanic lithosphere ( 62.1±2.4 my) since the Middle Jurassic.

Biospheric feedback effects in a synchronously coupled model of human and Earth systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thornton, Peter E.; Calvin, Katherine; Jones, Andrew D.

Fossil fuel combustion and land-use change are the first and second largest contributors to industrial-era increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, which is itself the largest driver of present-day climate change1. Projections of fossil fuel consumption and land-use change are thus fundamental inputs for coupled Earth system models (ESM) used to estimate the physical and biological consequences of future climate system forcing2,3. While empirical datasets are available to inform historical analyses4,5, assessments of future climate change have relied on projections of energy and land use based on energy economic models, constrained using historical and present-day data and forced with assumptionsmore » about future policy, land-use patterns, and socio-economic development trajectories6. Here we show that the influence of biospheric change – the integrated effect of climatic, ecological, and geochemical processes – on land ecosystems has a significant impact on energy, agriculture, and land-use projections for the 21st century. Such feedbacks have been ignored in previous ESM studies of future climate. We find that synchronous exposure of land ecosystem productivity in the economic system to biospheric change as it develops in an ESM results in a 10% reduction of land area used for crop cultivation; increased managed forest area and land carbon; a 15-20% decrease in global crop price; and a 17% reduction in fossil fuel emissions for a low-mid range forcing scenario7. These simulation results demonstrate that biospheric change can significantly alter primary human system forcings to the climate system. This synchronous two-way coupling approach removes inconsistencies in description of climate change between human and biosphere components of the coupled model, mitigating a major source of uncertainty identified in assessments of future climate projections8-10.« less

Earth System Dynamics: The Determination and Interpretation of the Global Angular Momentum Budget using the Earth Observing System. Revised

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

The objective of this investigation has been to examine the mass and momentum exchange between the atmosphere, oceans, solid Earth, hydrosphere, and cryosphere. The investigation has focused on changes in the Earth's gravity field, its rotation rate, atmospheric and oceanic circulation, global sea level change, ice sheet change, and global ground water circulation observed by contemporary sensors and models. The primary component of the mass exchange is water. The geodetic observables provided by these satellite sensors are used to study the transport of water mass in the hydrological cycle from one component of the Earth to another, and they are also used to evaluate the accuracy of models. As such, the investigation is concerned with the overall global water cycle. This report provides a description of scientific, educational and programmatic activities conducted during the period July 1, 1999 through June 30,2000. Research has continued into measurements of time-varying gravity and its relationship to Earth rotation. Variability of angular momentum and the related excitation of polar motion and Earth rotation have been examined for the atmosphere and oceans at time-scales of weeks to several years. To assess the performance of hydrologic models, we have compared geodetic signals derived from them with those observed by satellites. One key component is the interannual mass variability of the oceans obtained by direct observations from altimetry after removing steric signals. Further studies have been conducted on the steric model to quantify its accuracy at global and basin-scales. The results suggest a significant loss of water mass from the Oceans to the land on time-scales longer than 1-year. These signals are not reproduced in any of the models, which have poorly determined interannual fresh water fluxes. Output from a coupled atmosphere-ocean model testing long-term climate change hypotheses has been compared to simulated errors from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. Results indicate that GRACE will be able to observe seasonal signals at half-wavelengths ranging from 1000 to 10000 km, and may be able to observe secular trends at half- wavelengths of greater than 2000-3000 km for soil moisture and snow depth if they are as large as some of the climate experiments predict.

Effective and responsible teaching of climate change in Earth Science-related disciplines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Z. P.; Greenhough, B. J.

2009-04-01

Climate change is a core topic within Earth Science-related courses. This vast topic covers a wide array of different aspects that could be covered, from past climatic change across a vast range of scales to environmental (and social and economic) impacts of future climatic change and strategies for reducing anthropogenic climate change. The Earth Science disciplines play a crucial role in our understanding of past, present and future climate change and the Earth system in addition to understanding leading to development of strategies and technological solutions to achieve sustainability. However, an increased knowledge of the occurrence and causes of past (natural) climate changes can lead to a lessened concern and sense of urgency and responsibility amongst students in relation to anthropogenic causes of climatic change. Two concepts integral to the teaching of climate change are those of scientific uncertainty and complexity, yet an emphasis on these concepts can lead to scepticism about future predictions and a further loss of sense of urgency. The requirement to understand the nature of scientific uncertainty and think and move between different scales in particular relating an increased knowledge of longer timescale climatic change to recent (industrialised) climate change, are clearly areas of troublesome knowledge that affect students' sense of responsibility towards their role in achieving a sustainable society. Study of the attitudes of university students in a UK HE institution on a range of Earth Science-related programmes highlights a range of different attitudes in the student body towards the subject of climate change. Students express varied amounts of ‘climate change saturation' resulting from both media and curriculum coverage, a range of views relating to the significance of humans to the global climate and a range of opinions about the relevance of environmental citizenship to their degree programme. Climate change is therefore a challenging topic to cover within the Earth Science-related curricula due to wide-ranging, and sometimes polarised, existing attitudes of students and levels of existing partial and sometimes flawed knowledge in addition to the troublesome concepts that need to be grasped. These issues highlight the responsibility and challenge inherent in teaching the subject of climate change and the importance of consideration of integrating sustainability issues with the core science of climate change. The talk will include a discussion of strategies and resources for the effective teaching of climate change topics for a range of levels and discipline backgrounds.

Pedotransfer Functions in Earth System Science: Challenges and Perspectives: PTFs in Earth system science perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Looy, Kris; Bouma, Johan; Herbst, Michael

Soil, through its various functions, plays a vital role in the Earth's ecosystems and provides multiple ecosystem services to humanity. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are simple to complex knowledge rules that relate available soil information to soil properties and variables that are needed to parameterize soil processes. Here in this article, we review the existing PTFs and document the new generation of PTFs developed in the different disciplines of Earth system science. To meet the methodological challenges for a successful application in Earth system modeling, we emphasize that PTF development has to go hand in hand with suitable extrapolation and upscalingmore » techniques such that the PTFs correctly represent the spatial heterogeneity of soils. PTFs should encompass the variability of the estimated soil property or process, in such a way that the estimation of parameters allows for validation and can also confidently provide for extrapolation and upscaling purposes capturing the spatial variation in soils. Most actively pursued recent developments are related to parameterizations of solute transport, heat exchange, soil respiration, and organic carbon content, root density, and vegetation water uptake. Further challenges are to be addressed in parameterization of soil erosivity and land use change impacts at multiple scales. We argue that a comprehensive set of PTFs can be applied throughout a wide range of disciplines of Earth system science, with emphasis on land surface models. Novel sensing techniques provide a true breakthrough for this, yet further improvements are necessary for methods to deal with uncertainty and to validate applications at global scale.« less

Pedotransfer Functions in Earth System Science: Challenges and Perspectives: PTFs in Earth system science perspective

DOE PAGES

Van Looy, Kris; Bouma, Johan; Herbst, Michael; ...

2017-12-28

Soil, through its various functions, plays a vital role in the Earth's ecosystems and provides multiple ecosystem services to humanity. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are simple to complex knowledge rules that relate available soil information to soil properties and variables that are needed to parameterize soil processes. Here in this article, we review the existing PTFs and document the new generation of PTFs developed in the different disciplines of Earth system science. To meet the methodological challenges for a successful application in Earth system modeling, we emphasize that PTF development has to go hand in hand with suitable extrapolation and upscalingmore » techniques such that the PTFs correctly represent the spatial heterogeneity of soils. PTFs should encompass the variability of the estimated soil property or process, in such a way that the estimation of parameters allows for validation and can also confidently provide for extrapolation and upscaling purposes capturing the spatial variation in soils. Most actively pursued recent developments are related to parameterizations of solute transport, heat exchange, soil respiration, and organic carbon content, root density, and vegetation water uptake. Further challenges are to be addressed in parameterization of soil erosivity and land use change impacts at multiple scales. We argue that a comprehensive set of PTFs can be applied throughout a wide range of disciplines of Earth system science, with emphasis on land surface models. Novel sensing techniques provide a true breakthrough for this, yet further improvements are necessary for methods to deal with uncertainty and to validate applications at global scale.« less

Teaching Earth System Science Using Climate Educational Modules Based on NASA and NOAA Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, P. C.; LaDochy, S.; Patzert, W. C.; Willis, J. K.

2011-12-01

The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) recently developed a set of climate related educational modules to be used by K-12 teachers. These modules incorporate recent NASA and NOAA resources in Earth Science education. In the summer of 2011, these modules were tested by in-service teachers in courses held at several college campuses. At California State University, Los Angeles, we reviewed two climate modules: The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt and Abrupt Climate Change (http://essea.strategies.org/module.php?module_id=148) and Sulfur Dioxide: Its Role in Climate Change (http://essea.strategies.org/module.php?module_id=168). For each module, 4-6 teachers formed a cohort to complete assignments and unit assessments and to evaluate the effectiveness of the module for use in their classroom. Each module presented the teachers with a task that enabled them to research and better understand the science behind the climate related topic. For The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt, teachers are tasked with evaluating the impacts of the slowing or stopping of the thermohaline circulation on climate. In the same module teachers are charged with determining the possibilities of an abrupt climate shift during this century such as happened in the past. For the Sulfur Dioxide module teachers investigated the climate implications of the occurrence of several major volcanic eruptions within a short time period, as well as the feasibility of using sulfates to geoengineer climate change. In completing module assignments, teachers must list what they already know about the topic as well as formulate questions that still need to be addressed. Teachers then model the related interactions between spheres comprising the earth system (atmosphere-lithosphere, for example) to evaluate possible environmental impacts. Finally, teachers applied their research results to create lesson plans for their students. At a time when climate change and global warming are important topics in science education, these climate modules provide valuable learning experiences and resources for K-12 teachers.

A Carbonate Li Isotope Record Through Earth's History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asael, D.; Kalderon-Asael, B.; Planavsky, N.

2016-12-01

Lithium (Li) isotopes emerge as a powerful geochemical proxy for tracking continental weathering through time. Extensive work on Li fractionation in modern systems has brought to a profound understanding of the modern Li budget as well as to a consensus that marine carbonates faithfully record seawater Li isotope signature. As such record is essential in order to track global-scale changes in weathering processes and intensity through Earth's history, we have generated Li isotope data from marine carbonates from over 40 units, ranging in age from 3.0 Ga to modern. Preliminary results provide evidence for strongly inhibited weathering-mediated clay formation prior to the Paleozoic, which we attribute to the pre-Paleozoic lack of land plants. The initial rise in the Li isotope values is observed during the Ordovician, which is followed by a subsequent drop to background values and then begins the generally increasing trend that is already well reported. These findings are open for interpretation but they still support the view that the emergence of land plants dramatically changed the process of weathering and it seems that biomass has a potentially significant role in mineral breakdown in soils. Li isotopes provide a novel perspective on weathering and the impact on the Earth system of the rise of land plants - one of the most significant transitions in Earth's history.

Sounding the Alarm: Health in the Anthropocene

PubMed Central

Butler, Colin D.

2016-01-01

There is growing scientific and public recognition that human actions, directly and indirectly, have profoundly changed the Earth system, in a still accelerating process, increasingly called the “Anthropocene”. Planetary transformation, including of the atmosphere, climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, has enormous implications for human health, many of which are deeply disturbing, especially in low-income settings. A few health consequences of the Anthropocene have been partially recognized, including within environmental epidemiology, but their long-term consequences remain poorly understood and greatly under-rated. For example Syria could be a “sentinel” population, giving a glimpse to a much wider dystopian future. Health-Earth is a research network, co-founded in 2014, which seeks, with other groups, to catalyse a powerful curative response by the wider health community. This paper builds on a symposium presented by Health-Earth members at the 2015 conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. It reviews and synthesizes parts of the large literature relevant to the interaction between the changing Earth system and human health. It concludes that this topic should be prominent within future environmental epidemiology and public health. Created by our species, these challenges may be soluble, but solutions require far more understanding and resources than are currently being made available. PMID:27376314

Development of life sciences equipment for microgravity and hypergravity simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mulenburg, G. M.; Evans, J.; Vasques, M.; Gundo, D. P.; Griffith, J. B.; Harper, J.; Skundberg, T.

1994-01-01

The mission of the Life Science Division at the NASA Ames Research Center is to investigate the effects of gravity on living systems in the spectrum from cells to humans. The range of these investigations is from microgravity, as experienced in space, to Earth's gravity, and hypergravity. Exposure to microgravity causes many physiological changes in humans and other mammals including a headward shift of body fluids, atrophy of muscles - especially the large muscles of the legs - and changes in bone and mineral metabolism. The high cost and limited opportunity for research experiments in space create a need to perform ground based simulation experiments on Earth. Models that simulate microgravity are used to help identify and quantify these changes, to investigate the mechanisms causing these changes and, in some cases, to develop countermeasures.